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BREWERY ARTS CENTRE, Kendal


The Brewery Arts Centre is an unusual, but wonderful, venue that offers a diverse programme of international theatre, comedy, live music, cinema, dance, exhibitions, workshops, festivals and other events.  There is also a reasonable, informal, restaurant and a bar that often serves good beer.  It is a notable asset to Kendal, and to the wider area.
It opened in 1972.  Whitwell, Mark and Co (‘The House of Whitwell’) had established a wine business on the site in 1757, with cellars said to hold over 40,000 gallons of wine, and in 1853 built a beer brewery in the garden of the Georgian town house that still fronts the Brewery on Highgate.  By 1900 Whitwell Marks of Kendal was one of the town’s largest employers .  In 1946, the firm was taken over by Vaux Breweries of Sunderland, who closed their operations in 1971 and sold the site.

Region/Nation
Location/Address
122A Highgate
Kendal
County
Cumbria
Post Code
LA9 4HE
Main Historic Period
Modern
Useful Website Address
Tip/Nearby
Kendal Castle, Kendal Museum, Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Holy Trinity Church, the Lake District
Primary Management
Other
LEITH HILL PLACE

Leith Hill Place dates from around 1600, but was completely refurbished in Palladian style in about 1760 by a Bristol merchant, Richard Hull – who built nearby Leith Hill Tower.  It was bought in 1847 by Josiah Wedgwood III, grandson of the Josiah Wedgwood who founded the Wedgwood pottery business.  Josiah was married to Caroline Darwin, brother of Charles, author of ‘On the Origin of Species’.  One of their daughters, Margaret, married Arthur Vaughan Williams, but he died young and Margaret moved back to Leith Hill Place with her three young children. Her youngest son, Ralph, (‘Rafe’) went on to become the well-known English composer whose works include the Lark Ascending.  Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) inherited the property from his brother in 1944 and gave it to the National Trust.  It was subsequently leased by other members of the Wedgwood family, became a boarding house for a nearby college and then opened to the public in 2013.
It has a relaxed, informal, atmosphere - unlike many other National Trust properties.

Region/Nation
Location/Address
Near Coldharbour
Dorking
County
Surrey
Post Code
RH5 6LU
Main Historic Period
Georgian
Link to featured article
Primary Management
National Trust
PENNY LANE

The area that inspired Paul McCartney's 1967 song, 'Penny Lane', complete with the shelter in the middle of the roundabout, the bank and the hairdresser. The fire station is about a mile away. Paul McCartney used to sing in the choir at St Barnabas' Church at the junction of Penny Lane and Smithdown Road. With the possible exception of the church, none of these places is open to the general public, as such.

Post code is approximate.

Region/Nation
Location/Address
Penny Lane
Liverpool
County
Merseyside
Post Code
L18 1LZ
Main Historic Period
Modern
Link to featured article
Tip/Nearby
Not far from Woolton, where Paul and John met, and other Beatles' sites
Primary Management
Local Authority
ROYAL EDINBURGH MILITARY TATTOO

The Edinburgh Military Tattoo takes place over several nights each August, coinciding with the Edinburgh Festival. It began in 1949/1950 and consists of military displays and music performed by British, Commonwealth and other nations' armed forces. The event takes place in a dramatic setting on Edinburgh Castle Esplanade at the top of Castle Hill, with audience stands erected high over the City. The Edinburgh Tattoo is seen by in excess of 200,000 people every year, with a high proportion of visitors coming from overseas. It is also televised and viewed by audiences worldwide. Tickets sell out fairly quickly. Though international in nature, there is a strong Scottish feel to the Tattoo. The traditional ending is a performance by the massed pipes and drums, the National Anthem and, finally, a floodlit lone piper playing a lament.

Region/Nation
Location/Address
Tattoo Office
1-3 Cockburn Street
Edinburgh
County
Lothian
Post Code
EH1 1QB
Main Historic Period
Modern
Useful Website Address
Tip/Nearby
Held at Edinburgh Castle
Primary Management
Military
STRAWBERRY FIELD

The gates of the former Salvation Army children's home, Strawberry Field, which inspired John Lennon's 1967 song, 'Strawberry Fields Forever'. The current gates are replicas, the originals were on display in The Beatles' Story museum at Albert Dock, Liverpool, as of June 2017.

The gates can be seen from the road. The site is owned by the Salvation Army, which is proposing to develop it - including a small museum dedicated to the song and its inspiration.

Region/Nation
Location/Address
Beaconsfield Road
Woolton
County
Merseyside
Post Code
L25 6DA
Main Historic Period
Modern
Link to featured article
Tip/Nearby
John Lennon's home, Mendips, is just round the corner
Primary Management
Private - not open to the public

This is a growing listings directory – over 950 entries have been listed as of September 2022. 

Entries have links for further information, such as opening times and entry fees.

If your favourite attraction is not listed yet, and you have a good quality digital photograph of it that you are able to freely send, please get in touch

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