harrison's yard

[ChrisWest]

I think Tanners yard is 39, Dr. Mannings yard is 83, so Harrisons would be half way between these, maybe next to Windmill yard 65?

[adrian denney]

all i know for defo is when they send mums electric bill its addressed yard 57 highgate     and she lives  gawith place   .    maybe mosers yard is 57 

[genjen]

For those not familiar with Kendal, perhaps you should point out that there are actually houses at the bottom of Booth's car park and that your mother isn't homeless!

I think you are right about Tanners Yard. I will put my mind to Harrison's in the morning. Maybe someone in the library or Tourist Information might know.

Jen

[adrian denney]

yes very good point my mother isn't homeless .   that has given me such a laugh to go to bed on .   there now are lots of houses and flats  at the bottom of booths yard .    as a small child in the early 70's i can still remember the two houses in the middle of booths yard (carpark)  and can remember my nan who lived in lowther st (backing on to booths yard)  next to the now "winebar"  visiting an old lady living in one of them  ( now i sound and feel old)   that was when you walked down tanners yard  and could see in the cellar of booth's the butchers working at their blocks ....    even now in my 40s  as i walk up the yard i always look to the left to where those windows were .   i am wondering if the yard was where tesco (now iceland) is .   

[genjen]

I have just been into town and I have to tell you all that Kendal is possibly the coldest place on the planet today. Not at all the sort of day for mooching around the old yards. I also suspect that I must have given the appearance of being either a mad woman ( some would say that's right anyway) or of a lost grockle ( tourist), the way I kept stopping and staring hopefully across the main street, trying to work out what the yard numbers and names were, because I had the wrong specs with me!
I have to walk up Highgate to get from my house to whatever shops I am going to and usually do it in a head down and business like sort of way, so today was an education for me as well.

So: - Dr. Manning's, definitely 83.
         Tanners - 39, now has a Burgundy's Wine Bar sign across the top of it.

I went into the TIC to see if they had any old Kendal information but apart from some books of photographs, there was nothing to help. In the library local history section, I was given a massive tome to wade through, plus Wainwright's Drawings of Old Kendal and having very limited time this is what I found.

On Highgate, there were three Harrison references. The first was around the 53 - 59 area, so between Lowther Street and where Booths used to be, there was a Joseph Harrison.

A little further on, but back down by the river, Anthony Harrison had a dye house. It wasn't clear which yard led to this but it made reference to the Bird in Hand pub.

Then, around 61, Highgate, which was between Margaret's baby shop (59) and Iceland, so yes, roughly opposite the Shakespeare Inn, there was " a building of three storeys, the birthplace of Thomas Harrison, the benevolent lawyer". There was quite a substantial amount on this Harrison - apparently he gave away loaves of bread to the poor of Highgate and Kirkland. This is my favourite for a Harrison with a named yard and looking at Highgate as I walked back home, it is just possible that it is the building where Yeoman's camping equipment shop is now. Certainly it would have been a very smart building in its time and the home of some very well-to-do person. But that is absolutely guesswork so please don't take it as a fact.

There was another Harrison mentioned but it was in the Stramongate area so I sort of discounted this one.

I also saw a reference to the sack maker, Jonathan Savage but I hadn't remembered that bit of this thread so didn't make a note of it - Duh! Next time, maybe.

The only thing which threw me a bit and again, I didn't have time to work on it was that I am sure I saw a different number for Tanner's Yard from the the one that it is currently. I will have to look into that one.

If I ever have the time to get to the archives under County Hall, I may be able to find some more but for now - That's all folks!

Cheers,

Jen

[ChrisWest]

Well done Jen.

Hope you've thawed out by now. You must be used to the wet rather than the cold!!

Chris

[adrian denney]

  will this help   been back on to mum who lives  yard 57 highgate (moser's yard){ next to where margarets pram shop was  }    so here goes with what she has said .

yard 39  now called tanners yard  was called red house yard ( her mothers back door came in to this yard )  
the yard inbetween  the chemist and the old booths building  was yard
 just after booths  was yard 47  but she can't remember the name of this one .

she says that tanners yard/place was along the waterside  towrds abbotts hall  and was a square yard with lodging houses in there .

the bird in hand pub she drew a blank .
she says  sldc  have changed so many of the old names now  but how she would work out where  yards were  is the building numbers  as the yards were classed as a building   ie   building 37  then yard 39 then building 41  

sorry this don't help

adrain

[genjen]

Chris - hot soup and tea have had their effect and I feel almost human again. And yes, we usually do wet better than cold here. At least the snow missed us this time.


Adrian, That answers the Tanners Yard question then. I was wondering whether I had been seeing wrongly. Thank heavens there are still people like your mum around, who can actually remember these details. Your nan must have lived more or less where Tony Kelly has his silversmith shop now, on Lowther Street.

The Wainwright book has some wonderful drawings of old Kendal and not just the yards either. I shall see if it is still available and put it on my birthday list! The town has changed enormously even in the thirty years I have been here and I struggle to remember what it was like in the late seventies, so am full of admiration for those who can go back much further than that.

Cheers,

Jen

[ShaunJ]

Jonathan Savage's death was registered in Kendal in Q/E Dec 1850 (25 319).

There is another reference to him in a 1849 publication available on Google Books - search for "Harrison's Yard" Kendal.