PLANS to transform a scruffy piece of land at Kendal and to improve the town's war memorial have been unveiled.

Kendal Civic Society aims to raise more than £40,000 to create the St William Chantry Garden close to the eastern end of Stramongate Bridge.

In the Middle Ages, the site - described by society treasurer Robin Yates as being a bit of a 'grot spot' now - used to have a chapel, where travellers leaving town would stop to pray and make a donation to try to guarantee a safe journey.

The plan is to create an attractive garden, similar to the one at Blackhall Road, featuring planting, low walling and a seating area.

A well-attended annual meeting of the civic society also heard that, thanks to a sum of money given by a benefactor, restoration work would take place soon on Kendal's War Memorial in Market Place. Stonework and the bronze plaque would be cleaned, making it much easier to read the names of those who died while serving their country.

Chairman John Bateson referred to the recent refurbishment of Kendal Town Hall and its clock. It had arranged with South Lakeland District Council for a formal inauguration of the Carillon bells, which play a series of tunes unique to Kendal, including The Sunday Tune by local composer Thomas Scarisbrick. This would take place on June 22, the same date as the bells were originally inaugurated in 1897 to mark Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

The meeting was told income from the society's walks and talks had increased substantially in 2017. Walks which reveal the history of the town could be organised for any interested groups, said Mr Bateson, who also said he was keen to show more people the treasures in the town hall parlour, of which many residents were unaware.

The past year had seen the successful publication of Trevor Hughes and Arthur Nicholls' book The Yards of Kendal.

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One member of the audience asked what the society was doing to attract younger members to its executive committee, as it had just been re-elected en bloc. Mr Bateson said people could be co-opted - younger people who attended the guided walks were encouraged to get involved.

Arthur Nicholls stressed that all committee members worked very hard and secretary Patricia Hovey said: "The committee is not a closed shop. We are not a secret society. We do encourage people to join." She urged anyone interested in getting involved to attend the next meeting on April 17.

President Susie Bagot was re-elected.