A COUPLE have toasted making a piece of history with their Kendal Town Hall wedding – by raising a glass of real ale.

Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) members Rebecca Twigg and Duncan Purcell tied the knot at the town hall, in the first ceremony at the building since it was licensed for weddings.

And they were delighted to learn that the annual CAMRA Westmorland Beer Festival was being held in another part of the town hall on the same day as their wedding, so the newly-weds and their guests took the opportunity to pop in for a pint ahead of the reception.

Rebecca and Duncan, from Manchester, are regular visitors to the Lake District and wanted to have their big day in Kendal.

When they were told that the town hall is now a licensed wedding venue they decided it would be the perfect choice – and the discovery that their preferred date coincided with the beer festival clinched the deal.

Rebecca said: “When we asked the lovely staff at the town hall if we could get married on 11 November they checked that we didn’t mind the beer festival being on at the same time. We explained that we’re CAMRA members and said we’d be thrilled.

“The only problem has been that many of our guests are also real ale drinkers, so we were worried we may struggle to keep them in the ceremony room."

The Victorian town hall has been licensed to host wedding ceremonies since August, and is already generating plenty of interest.

Halls officer at Kendal Town Hall, Debbie McKee, said: “To date there has been six confirmed weddings and staff are excited to be working with wedding parties to ensure their ceremony is very special.

“The town hall was licensed as the council chamber at Cumbria County Council’s (CCC’s) County Hall in Kendal is under renovation and weddings for larger parties can no longer be accommodated.

“Kendal Town Hall has several rooms that are suitable to host larger wedding ceremonies, which offers interested parties the opportunity to have more guests and was a key reason behind the building being granted a licence.”

Councillor Chris Hogg, SLDC’s portfolio holder for Culture and Wellbeing, which includes responsibility for the town hall, added: “We’re delighted to have welcomed Rebecca, Duncan and their guests to the town hall for their big day and we hope they have had a wonderful time.

“This was obviously a historic moment for the town hall as well, hosting its first wedding. As well as providing a superb wedding venue, using this fabulous old building for weddings adds another income stream for the council to help us deliver on our key council priorities for all residents of South Lakeland.”