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Grange-over-Sands: The Story of a Gentle Township Find!

Well, I thought it would be nice to finish this amazing project with a final book which tells the story of this 'gentle township' where I live. The author, W. E. Swale, published his book in 1969 and in it he tells the story of this small town on the Cumbrian coast.

It is first mentioned in 1490 when it is recorded as 'Grange-with-Kentisbank'. It is generally believed that the name derived from the old French 'Graunge' meaning 'a barn' where the monks of Cartmel Priory stored some of their grain. The town grew slowly and most of the villagers were likely to have been quite poor although comfortable landowners lived on local estates such as Bigland Hall, Hampsfield Hall, Castle Head and Holker Hall. In 1834 it is recorded that cockles were an abundant food as was salmon which were all caught in the Bay. Groceries were brought from Kendal by the local cart driven by Peggy Keith who was apparently quite formidable and smoked a pipe.

At the same time travellers were starting to be attracted by the beauty of the village's surroundings and in 1826 the Crown Hotel 'offered customers good decent furniture and a daily supply of salt and fresh water'. In 1860 Edwin Waugh describes the location of the village as 'Here, where the rugged selvedge of our native district softens into the fertile beauty of the fitful sea'. A visitor writing in the local newspaper in March 1867 had this recommendation: 'It is in the character of a sanitarium that Grange is growing and will flourish. In the neighbouring woods myrtle, mignonette, laurestinus and mazereon grow wild. It is not fast nor boisterous nor overcrowded like some places one might name; it has neither bathing vans nor donkeys'.

In August 1857 the Furness railway line finally bridged the gap between Lancaster and Ulverston and trains began to run via Grange. More and larger hotels and hydros arose. Piers were built to serve sailing vessels and steamers from across the Bay. With Lancashire and Yorkshire manufacturing centres brought within two hours by rail, rich textile families began to settle in the town. The flow of day trippers and holiday makers steadily increased.

Further chapters in the book describe the buildings of Grange and how the people earned a living as well as who ran the public services and the history of the local schools and churches. There is a fascinating chapter on the walkers and workers of the sands which includes records of frequent deaths by drowning of unfortunate travellers caught out by the treacherous tides and quicksands.

Perhaps my favourite chapter in the book is that entitled 'Jottings from Old Journals'. The entries bring to life the people and history of this small town where I live. It is often said today that one town looks very like any other with a predominence of chains of shops with the same frontage but here in Grange we are fortunate to still have individually owned local shops with their own character and you really can buy almost anything you need without going further afield. Such was the case in the 1800's when W. Stalker in Main Street sold 'Costumes, Polonaises, Skirts, Straw and Leghorn Hats, Umbrellas, Parachutes and Whitby jet goods'. A little later Askew's opened a rival shop with 'Crinolines, French and English stays, hose and bonnets, cloths from Bologne, Rheims and Roubaix, all wool satins and serges and winseys (very cheap) at 6d a yard'. By 1860 Mackereth had his Grange Medical Hall which sold among other things a famous range of Gem perfumes, such as 'Grange Bouquet', 'Queen of the Lakes' and the seductively named 'Lancashire Witch'. He also ran the first circulating library in the town. Mr Birkett, of Lancaster, attended weekly to exercise his 'Painless Dentistry - A single tooth for 5/- and sets from £3.--s.,-d.'. J. Graham was the local plumber and William Riley was demonstrating the Edison Phonograph at his watchmaker's shop in Yewbarrow Terrace.

I hope this has given you a taste of the place where I live and maybe you will come and visit us sometime. Reading Detectives has taken me on a journey around the county of Cumbria. I have discovered people and places, read books old and new, learned to blog and most of all learned to look at the landscape with fresh eyes. It seemed fitting to end my journey back in Grange-over-Sands, my 'gentle township'.

31 October 2009 from Mary Rossall

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