I agree with Louise Parrish (‘Letters, August 22, Bridge lets down the town’).

The railway bridge over Longpool at Kendal Station is something of an eyesore and could well be improved with a clean-up and coat of paint.

Should it be painted in bright, perhaps a trifle gaudy, colours or be left in the colour of the historic Auld Grey Town?

Certainly a device or a coat of arms would improve matters, either that of Kendal or something reminding us of the Kendal & Windermere Railway.

The engineer Joseph Locke, assisted by the railway company’s engineer, John Harris, supervised the contractors, Thomas Brassey and John Stephenson & Co, in building the line.

The Longpool bridge of steel girders on stone pillars was Kendal’s first-ever steel bridge.

Like other bridges on the line, it was built to a height suitable for the vehicles of the time to pass under it and has for evermore had a nasty habit of catching the tops of lorries or tall loads.

The original wooden station was intended to be temporary and the bridge was only expected to last 40 years - it still stands and carries the trains after nearly a 170 years! It is a part of Kendal’s history and should be given loving care and attention.

Arthur R. Nicholls

Kendal