Explore the history around Gillinggate

Explore the history around Gillinggate. . Until 1908, Blind Beck marked the boundary between the Borough of Kendal and the Township of Kirkland which had its own court and regulations. Although Kirkland is now part of Kendal, it has its own very special character., Blind Beck probably gets its name from 'Blaen' an old 'word meaning the town end. It rises at the head of Gillinggate in a narrow wooded ravine. After heavy rain, it is a spectacular sight as water gushes out of the limestone cliff. This used to be open land and a favourite place for walks and brass band concerts, but since the houses were built in Gillinggate there is very little public access. Blind Beck runs under the main street. During roadworks in 1983, the old bridge dating from 1823 was found to be still in place and in a relatively good condition. With a few repairs it is still there under the modern road., Gillinggate was built in 1887 as a new road. Where it leaves Highgate there once stood the town house of the Leyburns of Cunswick Hall, who were a Catholic family, which was demolished to make way for the road. Blind Beck House was built in 1785 by Christopher Wilson who was a wealthy banker and one of the founders obis Kendal's hosiery trade. He was a prominent figure in the town, an A!derman and Mayor in 1798-99. He built a fine town house surrounded by gardens, lawns and outbuildings in a part of the town which was still almost in the country. Today the gardens are gone and the hayfields have been covered in houses, but his house survives still with his and his wife's initials on the spouthead: C and MW, Christopher and Margaret Wilson., At the top of Gillinggate and Greenside, on the edge of town, is Kendal's last lime kiln. Lime-burning was important from the middle of the 18th century, using Kendal Fell limestone and peat to produce lime for agricultural and building use. When the canal reached Kendal in 1819, bringing coal to fire the lime kilns, there was a huge growth in the lime-burning industry and in the growth and prosperity of the town. Over many years the Lime Kiln had fallen into almost total decay but it was rescued and restored in 2009. It is well worth the walk up the hill to see this magnificent construction; information boards tell the whole story., Near the top of Gillinggate is Kendal's earliest hospital, the Cropper Memorial Hospital, opened in 1870 with eight beds in memory of Fanny Alison Cropper by her husband James Cropper of Burneside. She had a great compassion for poor, sick people who could not afford medical help. The Hospital was maintained by subscriptions and collections in churches and chapels, and patients were admitted free on the recommendation of a subscriber., Photograph captions , Floods of November 1927. These floods closed Kirkland, when the culvert under the road was unable to contain Blind Beck. A 'K' bus can be seen waiting to come into town., Children Maypole dancing at Abbot Hall Park Children's Sports., The original entrance to Abbot Hall Park., The first Steel burner being installed by one of the Chaplow's traction engines at the Limeworks., The view up Gillinggate., The Cropper Memorial Hospital.