A WELL-attended annual meeting was held by Kendal Castle WI. Members sang a rousing Jerusalem and president Lib Simpson thanked the committee, supporters and helpers.

She was unanimously voted in for another year. She also reiterated that new members were always welcome. There was a display of crafts from Westmorland County Show by the very talented members and a beetle drive followed.

A superb presentation by Lisa, who is the community fundraiser for St John’s Hospice - South Lakes and North Yorkshire, at Lancaster. She was so enthusiastic and explained that the hospice is going from strength-to-strength due to the dedication of the many volunteers and devoted staff they have.

The Mayor of Kendal joined members for the annual council meeting at Kendal Town Hall and after long service certificates and general WI business was carried out, there were three female service personnel from Sandhurst explaining the contributions women had made in the last 100 years to the various services and war efforts. 

The federation fun quiz was held at Kendal Golf Club with 17 teams taking part. It was a good evening and Kendal Castle WI came second place. 
A lunch for 98 people was held at the Castle Green Hotel with guest Edwina Currie. 
The December meeting will be a festive occasion with entertainment and a buffet provided by the committee. 

KENDAL Parr WI’s November meeting was held at Castle Street Community Centre.

The meeting was attended by 14 members and one visitor. The president welcomed everyone to the meeting and a short business meeting followed.

The speaker was Peter McCafferty from Quiggins, who gave a talk entitled Kendal Mint Cake and the Media.

He began by talking about his own history and how a Yorkshire man came to be working at Quiggins. He then spent a short time talking about how the firm had originated; how they were originally in the business of wholesale on the Isle of Man and how members of the family had arrived in Kendal and eventually set up the Mint Cake works.

At the time there were about six companies producing Mint Cake of which three are still producing today. He described the process of how Mint Cake is made and spent some time describing other products the firm produces both under their own label and for other outlets.

The company employs 10 staff, many of whom have been with them for many years.

He then went on to discuss some of his meeting with the media over the years including visits from celebrities as part of programmes they were involved in and amused members with anecdotes from these visits. The next meeting is on December 9 and is a social evening. 

STUART Atkinson, Kendal’s very own ‘spaceman’, gave an outstanding talk to the Kendal and District Engineering Society.

He updated members on the Mars and Pluto missions and then concentrated on the new space race largely driven by private individuals rather than NASA.

He discussed the space tourism plans of Richard Branson (Virgin Galactic) and Jeff Bezos (Blue Origin) and the more serious ambitions of Elon Musk (Space X) and Boeing (Starliner) to put people on Mars. A very entertaining talk, stunningly illustrated, by an internationally renowned expert in his field.

The next meeting’s talk will be The History and Impact of the LKAB Iron Mine near Kiruna in Sweden, taking place on November 28 (7.15pm) at the Castle Green Hotel, Kendal. 

KENDAL Fellwalkers A group walked from Kendal on Sunday. Their long circuit linked the three limestone summits of Cunswick Scar, Whitbarrow Scar and Scout Scar.

The B group's route began at Hartsop. It followed valley paths to the east of Ullswater where the climbing began over the slopes of Place Fell to the quiet summit of The Knight. After crossing Boredale valley, the group returned by the ridge of Beda Fell and Angle Tarn.

The C group left Blencathra Centre bound for the grassy summit of Mungrisedale Common and then climbed by Atkinson Pike to Blencathra. There were good views of Scales Tarn on the descent over Scales Fell before valley paths led back to their starting point. 

AT THE Westmorland and Lonsdale Conservative lunch held at The Villa, Levens, Pamela Barker gave an interesting and informative talk on her role as Constable of Lancaster Castle.

The castle is at least 900 years old and is run by the Duchy of Lancaster. She was appointed by the Duchy for five years but has been asked to serve for a further five years in the unpaid role.

The constable has a coat of arms which is designed in London and has items on it associated with the constable, horses and donkeys. Also, because she was born in Yorkshire - the White Rose as well as the Red Rose of Lancashire are included.

The shield hangs in the castle along with the shields of the High Sheriffs.

The castle is owned by the Queen and when she visits the keys which are on a cushion are presented to her by the constable. The castle is used for various events, some of which the constable has to attend.