This short stretch is also fished for seatrout and is reputed to be haunted. The tale is that one would feel a ghostly hand on the shoulder and this would be repeated frequently. I have never experienced the phenomena but a friend of mine said he did and after several ocurrences he panicked and ran off down the river bank without even winding is line in. Gordon Powell tells me I have got it wrong about the haunting and in fact it is the stretch below Hawes Trough!

I was seatrout fishing one night about 40 years ago and left my motorcycle near the bridge. After fishing for a couple of hours I came back to find that the byke would start but would not go into gear. In disgust I trudged back home, slept and woke up late. Early in the morning my friend John Atkinson was at the bridge to fish for salmon, saw my byke and looked for me upstream and downstream with no success. Beginning to get a little worried he phoned my office and found I had not turned up for work. By this time he was convinced I had drowned so he motored down to my house (I did not have a telephone on those days) to find me at ease drinking a cup of tea. My name was mud. In fact I was fishing above the trough.

The Bagot family of Blithfield Hall, Staffordshire owned the first recorded herd in the 1380s when Richard II presented animals to Sir John Bagot.

It is thought that the breed is descended from the Schwarzol goat from the Rhone valley and may have been brought to Britain by returning crusaders no later than the 1100s.

The original herd was dispersed in 1957 and some were taken to Levens Park.

There is evidence of early settlement in pre Roman times. The Romans had a fort at Watercrook (two miles south of Kendal next to the river) it is thought to guard the road to Hadrian's Wall to the North.

Historical records go back to the 11th century after the start of William the Conqueror's regime. The town has had it's problems including the black death and raids from the Scots (but not recently!)

Some years ago on a summer evening a little before midnight a policeman who was patrolling the streets of Kendal saw red lights bobbing up and down in the Church grounds and the thought came to him that he was witnessing some ghastly black mass ritual. Although feeling a little nervous he decided to investigate and found to his relief that the culprits were a group of anglers collecting lobworms to fish for salmon the next day. Night is the best time for collecting as the worms come to the surface then, but it is not an easy job as they are very sensitive to footfalls and bright lights (red is OK). One has to be quick as the they can disappear back into the ground at great speed. Incidentally I was not one of the culprits.

Brewery Arts Centre. The Arts centre has its own web site Try this link
The site had its first brewery in 1758 and was owned by a Mr. Whitwell. The site was taken over by William Mark who built a new brewery in 1858. This enterprise traded as Whitwell Mark & Co. until it was taken over by Vaux Breweries in the 1940's. Vaux ceased trading in the late 60's and the site was bought in 1970 by the Lake District Theatre Trust Ltd. It was converted into an arts centre which was opened in 1972.

The centre has a 250 seat theatre which doubles as a cinema. I have seen some memorable performances there, amongst them:-

A Kathakali dance troupe. This form originates in Kerala (South India) and is a dance drama with the dancers (male only) wearing elaborate head-dresses and brightly painted make up.

Pimlico Opera. There was a recent performance of Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte sung in english. Some liberties were taken with Da Ponte's libretto and the boys came back disguised as hari krishnas. The Company travels light as the orchestra has only eight or nine players. This is a marvelously funny production. More operas please!

A concert given by Victoria de los Angeles. It was a privilege to hear her live for the first time. I enjoyed most the songs from the spanish repertoire.

There is more to the Arts Centre than the theatre, for example it has a 200 seat room for folk and jazz and other performances. The warehouse gallery is used for art exhibitions. It has a photographic gallery in the main building. There is a restaurant which provides meals at a reasonable price. The Vats bar is interesting as you can sit inside huge 200 year old oak vats (it is not necessary to climb over the top as a section has been cut away for access). There are lots of other activities for example courses, darkroom facilities, arts and crafts workshop etc. Try the Arts Centre link at the top of this section for more information.

Dr. Manning's Yard. This is a partial survivor of the old Kendal yards most of which were destroyed this century and the sites used for development. The yard used to consist of wool warehouses and tan yards, but these were replaced by housing. An attempt was made to preserve the original character of the yard, and I think it does look attractive.

Sandes Hospital. Through the archway are several cottages which used to be the old almshouses. Thomas Sandes a local wool merchant gave money in 1659 to provide homes for poor widows and wool workers of good reputations. Residents were not allowed to marry and were expected to work carding, spinning and weaving cloth. In 1852 the cottages were rebuilt to make a smaller number of larger almshouses.

My House was part of a complex built as a pottery warehouse in 1851 and parts were later used as a printing works, Tobacco factory, fent warehouse and brass foundry. The properties were designed by Miles Thompson draughtsman. I understand that my house used to be the stables. Kendal Civic Society converted the complex to seven dwellings in 1980, and prior to this you could have called the site a ruin.

Kendal Town Hall. The present building was rebuilt in 1825, but was used as assembly rooms. In 1859 it became Kendal Town Hall. The Tourist Information Office is in the same building and I have always found the staff very helpful.

Market Place. The first charter for a market in Kendal was granted by Richard I Coeur de Lion) in 1189. The open air market is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but there is an indoor market next to it which is open six days a week.

Kendal Museum. One of the oldest museums in the country. It has exhibitions of archaeology, natural history including many examples of local flora and fauna. There is a world wildlife gallery, and the Wainwright Gallery which traces the history of Cumbrian man from prehistory.

The museum is open from mid February to 24th December Monday to Saturday from 10.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (except November to March when it closes at 4 p.m.)

Castle Dairy is the oldest occupied house in Kendal and was there in the 14th century although there was some refurbishment in the 16th Century. It is thought that there may have been some association with the old leper hospital. The name 'Dairy' is probably a corruption of the word Dowry or Dower.

The house is open for vistors for a small charge on Wednesday afternoons 2-4pm from Easter to September.

St. George's Church. This building is not very old being opened in 1841. The ground on which it was built was raised by several feet to avoid damage from the flooding from the River Kent. Flooding happened fairly frequently, but not since a flood prevention scheme some years ago.

The open space between the church and the river is known as Gooseholme (an old saxon name) It is thought that hundreds of years ago children were sent to pasture geese on this ground. After this the space was used by the wool trade as a tenterground where cloth was stretched out to dry.

Kendal Castle. Built in the 13th century by Gilbert de Fitzrhenfried (Baron of Kendal). It was probably used as a fortified manor house to keep out raiding Scots. The Castle is now a bit of a ruin although some attempt has been made at restoration in recent times.

The castle was owned from the 14th to 16th centuries by the Parr family. Katherine Parr was King Henry VIII's last wife (the one who survived). It is not thought that she lived there but probably visited it quite often.

It is a very steep climb to the top of the hill and I nearly didn't bother taking any photographs.

Click here to see Catherine Parr's prayer book

Sizergh Castle and Gardens. The name Sizergh is of Scandinavian origin.

In the twelfth century King Henry II granted the lands at Sizergh to Gervase Deincourt and in 1239 came into the hands of the Strickland family on Sir William's marriage to Elizabeth Deincourt.

The first structure was built as a pele tower about 1240 by Sir Walter Strickland but many additions were made over the next 400 years. The property has been occupied by the Strickland family for over 700 years. Because of the heavy costs of looking after such a property the castle, grounds and adjoining lands were gifted to the National Trust in 1950.

Main Lawn and Pele Tower The lawn is the oldest part of the garden, probably late 17th early 18th century.

The Rock Garden. Water worn lakeland limestone is extensively used (not approved by conservationists nowadays). The garden has a large number of conifers including spruce, picea, japanese white pine, bhutan pine and yew. It also has a collection of japanese maples (acer palmatum) and a hardy fern collection. I love this part of the garden because it looks so natural.

The Lake. This was extended from the castle moat in 1926. Dredged in the 1980s and stock with golden rudd.

Levens Hall and gardens. The Hall is low lying and at the top of the tidal reaches of the Kent Estuary. In winter some of the garden can be flooded if high tides coincide with heavy rain and winds.

The original pele tower and hall was built between 1250 - 1300. In the late 16th century improvements were made to change it into something more comfortable to live in. In the late 17th century the property changed hands and the south wing and a brewhouse was built. The de Redman family were owners in the late 12th century and they sold it to the Bellingham family in 1562. In the late 17th century it was bought by Colonel James Grahme and it has been said that the proceeds helped to pay off Allan Bellingham's gambling debts. The Hall is now owned by the Bagot family.

Most of the present garden is about 300 years old.

Levens Hall Ginko Biloba tree. A deciduous primitive conifer which grew 250 million years ago and is the sole survivor of its family. It survived only in China growing in temples and palace gardens. There are male trees and female trees and stangely fertilization is by free swimming male sperm.

Levens Hall topiary. This is reputed to be best, oldest and most extensive topiary garden in the world. There are over 90 examples using Yew and Box.

Levens Hall 17th century garden. This part of the gardens was planted in 1990 and includes many old varieties of roses.