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The ruins of Kendal Castle on the hill above the town in Cumbria

Kendal

The closest big town to Garsdale, twenty-five minutes west

Kendal is the closest big town to Garsdale, about twenty-five minutes' drive west, and the place to head for anything the dale cannot provide. It has many shops, large supermarkets, cafes and eating places, and a weekly market on Wednesdays and Saturdays - the nearest large supermarkets to Garsdale are here, which is worth knowing if you are stocking a self-catering cottage for the week.

Arts, Health and Leisure

The town has a castle, and the Brewery Arts Centre has cinema, music, theatre and comedy events along with children's daytime sessions, which makes it the nearest proper arts venue to the dale.

The Westmorland General Hospital on Burton Road has an Urgent Treatment Centre for anything urgent but not life-threatening, and the leisure centre has a 25-metre pool with lane swimming and family sessions - the nearest swimming to Garsdale. Bank branches, phone shops and the other services that have disappeared from the small towns are all still in Kendal.

The Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal

Kendal Mint Cake

Kendal is also home of the famous Kendal Mint Cake, first made in 1869 by Joseph Wiper and prized for its energy-giving properties - it was carried on the 1953 Everest expedition, and it remains a favourite with walkers and climbers.

1869

First made by Joseph Wiper, carried on the 1953 Everest expedition, and still a favourite with walkers and climbers

The History of Kendal Mint Cake

Kendal Mint Cake is based on an older recipe that went under several names, including mint cake and peppermint tablet, and the Kendal version of it came about by mistake. Joseph Wiper had married into the Thompson family, confectioners in Kendal, and in 1869 he is said to have left a boiled solution for glacier mints standing overnight. By the morning it had turned cloudy and gone solid, and what he found in the pan was the first batch of what became Kendal Mint Cake. Wiper started producing it properly, and several other Kendal confectioners followed him into it soon afterwards.

Joseph Wiper emigrated to Canada in 1912 and his great-nephew Robert Wiper took over the family business. Robert is the one who turned it into the thing walkers know now, marketing Kendal Mint Cake as an energy snack for expeditions - among them Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition - and that is largely what carried its name out to mountaineers and hikers around the world. It went up Everest with the 1953 expedition as well, and it is still sold in most of the outdoor shops between here and the Lakes, including the ones in Sedbergh and Hawes that our guests use.

Three companies still produce Kendal Mint Cake today. It keeps well in a rucksack, which is why it has never really gone out of use round here, and a bar of it is a reasonable thing to have in your pocket on a long day out from Garsdale.

The Kendal Mint Cake Makers

These are the three firms still making it, and between them they account for most of its history.

  • Quiggin's

    The oldest surviving mint cake company. The Quiggin family had been making confectionery on the Isle of Man since 1840, and when Daniel Quiggin, one of four sons, moved to Kendal in 1880, the mint cake company was formed.

  • Romney's

    Founded in 1918 on an old recipe, selling in Kendal and sending the rest out by train to the north west. In 1987 Romney's bought Wiper's Mint Cake from Harry Wiper.

  • Wiper's

    The original firm, started by Joseph Wiper in 1869 and taken on by his great-nephew Robert. Harry Wiper inherited it in 1960 when his father Robert died, and sold it to Romney's in 1987.

The Top Things to Do in Kendal

The top places we found online in and around Kendal.

  • Lakeland Maze Farm Park

    A family farm attraction with a maize maze each summer, and the most-reviewed attraction in the area.

  • Kendal Castle

    The ruined castle on the hill above the town, with views over to the Howgills - see Kendal Castle.

  • Sizergh Castle

    The National Trust medieval house just south of Kendal, which pairs well with Levens Hall and its famous topiary on the same side of town.

  • Brewery Arts Centre

    Cinema, music, theatre and comedy in the town centre - see the Brewery Arts Centre.

  • Lakeland Museum

    The Museum of Lakeland Life, covering the area's social history, in the same building as the Brewery Arts Centre.

  • Foulshaw Moss

    The Cumbria Wildlife Trust nature reserve with its osprey nest, a short drive out of town on the way to Morecambe.

Getting There and Around

From Garsdale the route is down the dale through Sedbergh and on west, and Oxenholme station on the West Coast Main Line sits just outside town - the closest main line rail interchange to the cottages, useful for guests travelling from London or Scotland.

Kendal also makes a good staging point for a day in the southern Lake District, with Ambleside around forty-five minutes further on.

Oxenholme station on the West Coast Main Line outside Kendal

Holiday Cottages Near Kendal

Our three self-catering holiday cottages sit in Garsdale, about twenty-five minutes up the dale from Kendal. Book direct with the owners for the best rates.

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