THE FOURTH annual Kendal Wool Gathering arrives this weekend, celebrating the town’s connections to the trade on which its wealth was built.

A record number of stalls have been booked, making the Gathering’s wool market more than twice the size of previous years.

The 66 stalls will fill the shopping mall of K Village, in Kendal, on Saturday October 29 and Sunday 30.

In addition to the retailers, there are loads of wool-based fun activities for young and old, with contributions from partners including the Museum of Lakeland Life, Kendal Quakers Tapestry Museum, livestock farmers, Yorkshire Museum of Farming, while the Lancs and Lakes Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers will be demonstrating their craft.

For the first time, there will be a Wool School, where trainers of spinning and knitting will be on hand to run taster workshops in spinning (Saturday only) and knitting.

Alongside the Wool School, Herdwick Company’s Mandy Marshall will give a talk on sourcing traceable wool for her handbags and other accessories.

Felltarn Friends, who have run children's workshops throughout the school holidays to make exciting displays for this year's Gathering, are on hand to entertain the youngsters over the weekend.


Westmorland Agricultural Society, for the third year running, will be providing a marquee to house livestock and farmers telling their story of raising sheep, while K Village will play host to alpacas.

Away from K Village, an Enriched by Moments dementia programme run by Lakeland Arts is completing a Creative Age Challenge to transform the Museum of Lakeland Life & Industry, where sessions to create a giant rag rug inspired by the Cumbrian landscape are being held.

The museum is holding crochet lessons with artist Sandra Kendal over the Gathering weekend, helping local crafters, community groups and people living with dementia to fill the museum with woolly creations and quirky textile installations.

The museum is located across the river from K-Village and an activity trail will link the two sites during the Gathering.

On Sunday afternoon there will be an auction of the herd of handmade sheep to support the Enriched by Moments programme.

On Saturday, October 29, Kendal Town Hall’s Mayor’s Parlour is open to the public from noon to 3pm for former Mayors Tony Rothwell, Tom Claire and John Bateson to give talks on Kendal’s Charter and demonstrate wool-related artefacts, including The Pattern Book.

“Kendal Wool Gathering has gone from strength to strength with numbers of exhibitors and visitors growing each year,” said chairman, Mike Glover.

“It is obvious there is a huge interest in reviving the skills, crafts and products associated with wool and we want to encourage and facilitate people to take part.

“All we need now is for people to turn up to see this exciting celebration of all things woolly, whether it is to buy, browse or just enjoy the fun.”

Kendal Wool Gathering is open from 10am to 5pm on Saturday and 10am to 4pm on Sunday. Entrance and car parking are free.

For more information, visit www.kendalwoolgathering.co.uk