Kendal

Kendal is a small town, characterised as the Gateway to the Lakes. It is a bit of a stretch to call it "Around Preston", but it has an important link to the city - this was the northern terminus of the Lancaster Canal. It was 1819 before the canal finally got here.

Today the canal ends at Tewitfield, just northeast of Carnforth, where the A6070 crosses it, the A road being moved to make room for the M6. It continues as a non-navigable waterway for some way, but the canal from Sedgewick to Kendal was filled in in the 1960s. The last mile or so is now a pleasant walk, which I picked up from behind the leisure centre (which has a car park).

This is the view looking south, the leisure centre is to the right.

Heading north, there is a "change" bridge, where the tow path swapped from one side to the other.

A "change" bridge allows the horse to keep pulling the boat without being unhitched.

Further along is another bridge, also in good condition. I think this would have been the very last on the canal.

The end of the canal is quite unremarkable, seemingly just the end of an alley. This is looking back south. There was a canal basin to the right.

Some of the old buildings that would have served the basin are still standing.

A short way to the west, on the banks of the river is Aynam Lodge, built in 1823, for Thomas Harrison, surgeon and Chairman of the Canal Committee.

Curiously, the canal terminates right next to the posh part of Kendal - less than 100 m to the north is Thorny Hills.

Which becomes Castle Crescent as it curves round St George's Church, undoubtedly just as expensive.

St George's Church is notable for the truncated towers. They were shorted in 1927, and again 1978, due to issues with the foundations.

Nearby is the Castle Dairy, possible the town's oldest continuously inhabited structure, and dating from the fourteenth century.

The station, as far north as I got, was a huge affair at one time; a massive four-story building. I wondered if it might have been a hotel, but it seems not. Today the station is unmanned, and the old building is a doctor's surgery.

Near to the station is Kendal Museum, founded in 1796.

And round the corner is what used to be Allen Technical Institute, and became Kendal College.

The River Kent flows through Kendal, heading south to Grange-over-Sands and Morecambe Bay, and giving the town its name. There are a number of bridges, this is where the A6 northbound crosses.

And this is where the southbound crosses.

The main shopping area is just to the west. Going up Branthwaite Brow is the "Famous 1657 Chocolate House". It seems to have been a chocolate house since the 1980s, and despite being so famous, I can find little about it, besides it was built in the 1630s... So why the name?

The road leads up to an open area...

With a market at the far end.

This leads to the high street, called Stricklandgate at this point. Looking back towards the market is the war memorial.

Looking north along Stricklandgate...

This is the view from further south along Stricklandgate looking north again. Ye Olde Fleece Inn is believed to have been built in 1654, the oldest pub in the town.

A crossroads marks the point whether Stricklandgate becomes Highgate, and this is where the town hall is. It was built in 1827, but only became the town hall in 1859, when the older building, near the war memorial, was deemed inadequate. It was converted to a town hall by the son of the original architect.

The Clock Tower pub is along the sheet to the west, and the Miles Thompson, a Wetherspoons, just next door. The Wetherspoons used to be the public baths (only the facade and chimney now remain), and Thompson was the local architect who designed it.

This is Beijing House; I presume not the original name. I am unable to find anything about it, but it looks old!

Highgate becomes Kirkland around this bend (which is looking back).

Kirkland takes us past these gates...

... And the Ring O'Bells pub.

Behind which is Holy Trinity Church. There has been a church on the site since Anglo-Saxon times. Parts of the current church may date back to 1202.

According to Wiki: "In 1189, the inhabitants of Kendal were massacred in church by Duncan, Earl of Fife."

This is Nether Bridge, at one time the lowest bridge in Kendal, built in 1772 (though one part was rebuilt in 1908).

On the other side of the river is "K Village", which was built in 2010 on the site of a shoe factory - K Shoes. It struggled as a retail centre, and went into administration after just two years (see here). However, it seems to have been given a new lease of life, and there are now several businesses there

The main road, now called Milnthorpe Road, passes along side the river a short way. This is the view from Nether Bridge; road on the right, K Village on the left.

A more modern part of Kendal College. I do not usually bother with modern structures, but occasionally they have some appeal...

Back across the river, and almost back at the leisure centre, is Kirkbie Kendal School. This building was formerly the boys grammar school and was built in 1889 (a girls school was built in Thorny Hills the year later).

The school name reflects the old name for Kendal - Kirkbie Kendal or sometimes Kirkbie in Kendal, meaning village with a church in the valley of the River Kent. Not sure when it changed, but a map from 1818 was already calling it Kendal.