Kendal The Lake District

The town of Kendal was so keen to have good canal facilities that it built the terminal basin

, wharves and warehouses at its own expense. The canal sold land to the Kendal Gas Company in 1824, which brought in its regular coal supplies by canal. Kendal's outport at Milnthorpe declined, and instead, goods to and from distant places were transshipped at Hest Bank where the canal looped very close to the coast; this continued until 1831. Trade on the canal included all types of cargo grain, timber, coal, chemicals for the gunpowder mills, and even Welsh slate were carried into Kendal, and return cargoes included limestone, slate and wool. From 1820 there were packet services from Kendal in competition with stage coaches, which, even though improved in 1833, still took 6.5 hours for the run to Lancaster.

The basic problem with the Lancaster Canal was that it was never connected to the rest of the canal system. In 1803 the company had built a 'temporary' tram road between Preston and the detached southern section of the canal, but this meant that goods had to be transshipped twice. The canal's traffic was progressively reduced as railways were built alongside, the final section being the completion of the railway north from Lancaster as far as Kendal in 1846. But from 1850 to 1858 there was a trafficsharing agreement between the canal and the railway, the former still carrying coal and heavy goods to Kendal, even though for carriage to Windermere these goods had to be carted through Kendal from the canal basin to the station.

The northern section of the canal was finally leased to the London and North Western Railway in 1864, and bought outright by them in 1886. Traffic declined steadily through the years of railway competition, though it is interesting to note that as late as 1894 the cheapest route for the im-port of cement for the construction of the Thirlmere waterworks was through Glasson docks and along the canal. Traffic between Lancaster and Kendal ceased in 1944, and the northern most 6 miles (10km) were drained in 1955. The M6 now cuts the canal in three places, first at the top of Tewitfield locks, although the remaining section to Hincaster is still largely in water, as it is still used as a feeder and for research. It is possible to walk along most of the canal, apart from where it has been cut by the A591 just north of Hincaster; restoration of the canal would not be totally impossible.

Clearly the impact of the canal age on the Lake District was limited, principally by the nature of the terrain, as well as by the limited profits which might have been made from building canals in such a poor and remote area. However, the canals which were built did allow the in-creased export of some of the heavier goods such as slate, iron and limestone, whilst certain imports had their effect too; the arrival of bricks and Welsh slate, for example, eventually altered local architectural styles. The import of much cheaper coal was undoubtedly a great boon to both householders and manufacturers. Kendal's population grew by a third between 1811 and 1831, and the whole area served by Kendal (and for that matter by Ulverston) benefitted from improved access which the canals gave them to the rest of the country.

by: Adrian Vultur

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