Explore the history around Sandes Avenue

Explore the history around Sandes Avenue. . Sandes Avenue was opened in 1887, as part of the celebrations for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. It was built on the site of the old Sandes Close, to provide better access to the railway station. Before this, the main road went down Finkle Street and Stramongate, and was the only road north out of Kendal., £25,000 was borrowed to pay for the new road. The road was extra wide and involved an iron bridge over the river designed by Mr. Gilkes of the world-famous engineering works of the same name in Kendal, and is known as the Victoria or Jubilee Bridge. When the foundation stone of the bridge was laid on 13th September 1886, there was a procession around the town headed by the sword and mace bearers and the Mayor Richard Nelson., Many of the large buildings which once lined the avenue have been demolished or altered., The firm of E.W. Thompson and Sons produced hosiery at Bridge Mills, alongside the river, from 1878 to the late 1980s. At first the knitting machines were operated by hand, but the work later became fully mechanised and K Socks became almost as famous as K Shoes., The County Mews were opened in 1905 as livery stables. Motor vehicles were then gradually becoming more common, but horse traffic was still the most important means of transport., The County Mews became the Palladium cinema in 1931, with seating for 2300. Across the road was the Roxy cinema, once the Kendal Kinema which had opened in 1913. The Roxy was closed in the 1950s and demolished when Blackhall Road was built. The Palladium closed in 1989., Photograph captions , The River Kent flooded and crowds have always gathered on the bridges to watch., The County Mews were opened in 1905 as livery stables., Bridge Mills was originally a woollen mill and wire works., Gawith's and Illingworth's produced snuff at their premises on Sandes Avenue., Hosiery was made a Bridge Mills, with K Socks nearly becoming as famous as K Shoes., St John's Presbyterian Church stood in Sandes Avenue until 1980 when it was demolished.