Kendal, New Shambles 1914

Photo ref: 67400P

My roots in Kendal go very deep indeed, my Great Grandfather was James Dawson Garnett who was born there in 1851 on Lake Road and married Elizabeth Sherrin a local girl in 1871. Their son James Langhorn Garnett was my Grandfather who moved to Middlesborough then South Shields and retired there as a local policeman. He then moved to Durham City and ran several pubs there called the Angel Inn in Crossgate ...see more

I lived almost next door to Anchorite Well for many years until I left Kendal in 1969. The houses were occupied by Jenny Huck and the Hootons. The Hucks had one of the first colour televisions on the estate and I remember going to their house to watch an FA Cup Final in colour during the 1960's. I remember bringing a minnow back to Kendal from Coniston and putting it into the well. It grew up, lived, and was seen in ...see more

When I was a toddler of about 3 in 1956/57 I lived with my parents and older sister, Susan, in a house at the top of Beast Banks called Cliffside. Behind us were the Serpentine Woods. One day I was out playing when my sister and her whole class came snaking through our garden after a nature walk in the woods. I was thrilled to see them and wanted to go with Susan. The teacher asked my mum if I could go back to school ...see more

Ewen Kerr opened a secondhand bookshop in New Sambles, sometime during the early years of World War II. I remember selling him some of my children's books (I now much regret that I did not keep them; I was only 17 at the time) and buying a splendidly, decoratively bound copy of Agness Zimmermann's edition of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas. It cost, I think, 2s.6d. (c.12.5 p.) and I still have it. Later Ewen's son took the business over & moved to another Kendal location, then to Cartmel.