KENDAL

'Kendal' is a town and civil parish within the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. It is south of Carlisle, on the course of the River Kent, and has a total resident population of 27,521.
Historically a part of Westmorland, Kendal today known largely a centre for tourism and as the home of Kendal mint cake. Its buildings constructed with the local grey limestone have earned it the nickname ''the Auld Grey Town''.

Contents

History

Kendal mint cake

Governance

Civic history

Parliamentary representation

Geography

Economy

Transport

Education

Places of interest

Notable people

Kendal dialect

Kendal Mountain Search & Mountain Rescue Team

Twin Towns

See also

References

External links

History

Kendal is listed in the Domesday Book as part of Yorkshire with the name ''Cherchbi''.^[1]. For many centuries it was called ''Kirkbie Kendal'', meaning "village with a church in the valley of the River Kent". The earliest castle was a Norman motte and bailey (now located on the west side of the town) when the settlement went under the name of ''Kirkbie Strickland''
A chartered market town, the centre of Kendal is structured around a high street with fortified alleyways (known locally as ''yards'') off to either side which allowed the local population to seek shelter from the Anglo-Scottish raiding parties known as the Border Reivers. The main industry in these times was the manufacture of woollen goods, the importance of which is reflected in the town's coat of arms and in its Latin motto "Pannus mihi panis", meaning ''wool ''(literally 'cloth')'' is my bread''. "Kendal Green" was hard-wearing wool-based fabric specific to the local manufacturing process, and was supposedly sported by the Kendalian archers who were instrumental in the English victory over the French at Agincourt.
The site of several (ruined) castles, the most recent one constructed in the late 12th century, Kendal has a long history as a stronghold of one kind or another. Rumours still circulate that King Henry VIII's sixth wife Catherine Parr is believed to have been born at Kendal Castle, but these are unfounded.

Kendal mint cake

Main articles: Kendal mint cake


Kendal is known today chiefly for Kendal mint cake, a glucose-based type of confectionery reputedly discovered accidentally by Joseph Wiper during his search for the clear glacier mint.
Used on numerous expeditions to mountaintops (including Mount Everest and K2) and both poles of the Earth, its popularity is mainly due to the very astute decision of the original manufacturer's great nephew to market it as an energy food, and to supply Ernest Shackleton's 1914–1917 Transarctic Expedition.
By the time the business was sold to competitor Romney's in 1987 there were several rival mint cake producers, many of which are still in business.

Governance

Civic history

The municipal borough of Kendal was created in 1835 and until 1894 the town was also an urban sanitary district. The borough boundaries were altered in 1935 by gaining a small part of South Westmorland Rural District under a County Review Order.
The civil parishes of Kirkland and Nether Graveship were abolished in 1908 and became part of Kendal Civil Parish whose boundaries were after that the same as the borough.
Kendal was, from 1888 to 1974, the administrative centre of the administrative county of Westmorland although Appleby is the traditional county town.
The borough of Kendal was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 to become a part of South Lakeland district of Cumbria. The town was a successor parish, and thus kept its own town council.

Parliamentary representation

Kendal is part of the Westmorland and Lonsdale parliament constituency of which Tim Farron is the current MP representing the Liberal Democrats^[2].

Geography

Kendal stands on the River Kent, surrounded by low hills. It is near (but not in) the Lake District National Park. When the National Park was formed in 1951 the boundary was deliberately shaped to exclude Kendal. Although a relatively small town, it is an important commercial centre for a wide area thanks to its rural location.
Kendal railway station is situated on the Windermere Branch Line and gives connections to Windermere railway station to the north, and Oxenholme Lake District railway station (on the West Coast Main Line) and Lancaster railway station to the south. Kendal is around 8 miles (12 km) from the M6 motorway, and is bypassed on the west by the A591 road, linking it to Windermere, Keswick and the A590, as well as being the terminus of the A65 road to Kirkby Lonsdale and a destination on the A6 road to Penrith.
The Lancaster Canal was built as far as Kendal in 1819, but the northern section was rendered unnavigable by the construction of the M6. Part of this section was also drained and filled in to prevent leakage, and the course of the canal through Kendal has now been developed. The canal tow-path, however, remains as a footpath through Kendal. A campaign is currently underway to restore the canal as far as Kendal.

Economy

Kendal's early prosperity was based largely on cloth manufacture. In the 19th century it became a centre for the manufacture of snuff and shoes; the K Shoes company remained a major employer in the town until its factory closed in 2003. [1] There are still a number of light industries based in the town, though tourism is now one of the main employers.
On February 26, 2003, Kendal was granted Fairtrade Town status.

Transport

Kendal can be reached from the M6 motorway by following the A691 from Junction 36.
Though Kendal has a centrally located station on the branch line from Oxenholme to Windermere, Oxenholme itself, on the West Coast Main Line and served by direct trains to London, Birmingham and Glasgow, is on the southern edge of the town and is much busier.
Kendal is served by a long distance coach service from London (once per day) and local buses run from the bus station to destinations such as Ambleside and Barrow in Furness.

Education

Kirkbie Kendal School is a Secondary School Business and Enterprise College, that serves the area around the town and rural countryside. Kirkbie Kendal School operates as a Foundation school, its previous students include the historian David Starkey. The other secondary school in the area is Queen Katherine School, which has a string of illustrious alumni. There are numerous Primary Schools in the area, including Castle Park, Stramongate School, Heron Hill, Ghyllside, Vicarage Park, and Dean Gibson. In the nearby village of Natland, there is St. Marks School.

Places of interest

★ Kendal Museum of Natural History and Archaeology (one of the oldest in the country, it includes an exhibition on the geology of the Lake District, and a stuffed polar bear)

★ Abbot Hall Art Gallery (housed in a Georgian villa, it mounts nationally important exhibitions, such as ''David Bomberg: Spirit in the Mass'' (17 July - 28 October 2006). Permanent collection includes George Romney, JMW Turner, John Ruskin, Ben Nicholson, Paula Rego, Lucian Freud, Stanley Spencer and Barbara Hepworth.

★ Museum of Lakeland Life and Industry

★ Kendal Castle

★ Friends' Meeting House, home of the Quaker Tapestry

★ The Brewery Arts Centre (offering theatre, dance, exhibitions, cinemas, music, workshops, youth drama and dance)

Notable people

The following is a list of people who either were born in Kendal or have significant contacts with Kendal:

★ Jonathan Dodgson Carr, founder of Carrs Breadmakers and social reform campaigner

★ John Cunliffe, creator of Postman Pat

★ John Dalton, Chemist and Physicist

★ Sir Arthur Eddington, Astrophysicist

★ James Ellison, MotoGP rider

★ George Romney, portrait painter

★ Keith Stainton, politician and WW2 hero in France

★ David Starkey, historian

★ Alfred Wainwright, Guidebook author and walker

★ Wild Beasts, New age pop band

★ Keith Wilkinson, ITV television news reporter

★ John Wilson, mathematician and astronomer

★ Yan, Hamilton and Woody of the indie-rock band British Sea Power – raised in Natland, a nearby village.

★ Steve Hogarth, vocalist of rock band Marillion

Kendal dialect

The Kendal dialect known as Kendalian, is a diasystem of the Cumbrian dialect spoken around the Kendal area.

Kendal Mountain Search & Mountain Rescue Team

Kendal has for many years maintained a voluntary Mountain Search & Rescue team based at Busher Walk. They have performed numerous rescues around the Kendal Area, and along with other local Mountain Rescue teams, helped at the Grayrigg derailment

Twin Towns

Kendal is twinned with:

★ Rinteln, Lower Saxony, Germany

★ Killarney, County Kerry, Republic of Ireland

See also

★ Kendal Town F.C.

References

1. Mills, A.D., ''Dictionary of English Place Names'', Oxford University Press, 1998
2. Tim Farren "TheyWorkForYou" listing

External links

★ Kendal Town Council

★ Abbot Hall Art Gallery

★ Brewery Arts Centre

★ George Romneys of Kendal

★ Kendal Online (Community Website)

★ Illustrated guide to Kendal

★ The Northern Reaches—Restoration of the canal to Kendal

★ Kendal Museum

★ VisitCumbria - Kendal