Sandes Hospital, Kendal

Plenty more walking for our challenge today and my son has recovered from yesterday's scare. We walked to our church, then to McDonald's before going to the library. Then we walked all the way through town to K Village down Highgate. On the way we passed this lovely old building. This is the history:

In this yard, Thomas Sandes (1606 - 81), cloth merchant and former Mayor of Kendal, founded a school and eight almshouses for poor widows. The gatehouse, once the master's house, had single storey wings and housed the school and a library in the chamber above the gateway. The houses were rebuilt in 1852 by Kendal architect Miles Thompson. In 1886 the school merged with Kendal Grammar School which was succeeded in 1980 by Kirkbie Kendal School whose trustees still own the property. The datestone shows shearman's tools and the Sandes family arms.

After shoe shopping at K Village (why did both kids have a foot growth spurt at the same time!) the children then chose a play in Abbott Hall park. So I fortified myself with a takeout coffee to insulate against the snow flurries and freezing wind! Amazingly we stayed there for nearly an hour brrrrr. Then a long walk home with more snow...

More photos from today on flickr