FOR those who like a spot of lunch followed by a grand chunk of classical music, look no farther than Kendal Town Hall.

Yes, it's almost time again when finger food and a hefty main course of music merge in an appetising menu of first class entertainment for the popular Kendal Midday Concert Club.

The Wednesday lunchtime concerts open with the Bridge Street Quartet on October 4.

The ensemble created quite a stir last year with a successful Wigmore Hall debut and acclaimed performances at Manchester's Haydnfest and the City of London Festival.

Its Kendal programme features work by Haydn, Delius and Ravel.

Strings and piano come together in the melodies of Schumann, Paganini and Mendelssohn on October 18, when Shanghai-born cellist Liwei Qin appears with former member of the Gould Piano Trio, Gretel Dowdeswell.

Scandinavia is well-represented on November 1 by Trio Ondine: Swedish violinist Erik Heide, Norwegian Jonathan Slaato (cellist) and, five times winner of the Steinway Competition, Danish pianist Martin Qvist Hansen.

And later in the same month (November 15), a quintet of highly-talented wind players from the Royal Northern College of Music perform as the Langdale Ensemble, taking on works by Ibert; Nielsen; Agay; Milhaud; and Arnold.

In demand pianist Naomi Iwase graces the midday series on November 29.

A young musician who began learning the glorious tones of the piano at the age of three in Brazil, she has been giving recitals across the world since she was 13.

Ravel and Britten, as well as Spanish, Latin American and Italian songs, feature in Serenata's colourful programme on December 13, with soprano Susan Heaton-Wright; guitarist Amanda Cook; and tenor doubling on guitar, Neil Simon, concluding 2000.

The concert club taps into the vast pool of Northern Sinfonia talent to start 2001, with principal flute, David Haslam and his colleagues in the Northern Sinfonia Chamber Ensemble playing Mozart's flute quartets (A and D) and Beethoven's String Trio in C minor, on January 10.

Five other events follow with Spanish string quartet Cuarteto Casals bringing the 57th concert club season to a close on March 21.

Not only are the music-makers of such a high standard, but the modestly-charged snack lunches are worthwhile too, raising almost £4,000 for various charities over the past 11 years.

The series started as the brainchild of the Rev H.O.

(Bunny) Evans, a non-Conformist minister, with the original seeds sown way back at a meeting in his house on Thorny Hills, in 1944.

The first president was James Cropper senior (the present James Cropper's grandfather) who loaned his piano from Ellergreen for some of its first events.

Financial support arrived from several sources over the years, particularly the Scott family, who founded Provincial, with Helen Neilson (Frances Scott's secretary) providing unstinting administrative and organisational effort, plus an instinct to select young artists with great talent, until ill health forced her to resign in 1976.

Concerts run from 1-2pm, tickets £4/£1 children aged over seven.

Snack lunches from 11.50am.