Then and Now Photos - Kilners Tea Garden Patterdale

Kilners Tea Garden used to operate from a delightful location next to Patterdale Church. It covered part of where the road now is and then spread into the field opposite the Church. It was set up by the Kilner family who ran “Kilners Refreshment Rooms & Lodgings” in Glenridding - which is now part of the Glenridding Hotel. Two of the Kilner family, Arthur and Robert, served in World War One and there stories are included in our Roll of Honour. We believe the Tea Rooms in Patterdale operated from early in the 20th Century and operated initially at least by Thomas and Maggie Kilner. It may well have started life as a Greengrocers as we found out from a photo we received in the summer of 2018 from the Kilner family shown below. They were open until around 1949, when they were taken on by Tommy Dawson, who ran Patterdale Post Office. He ran them as a shop for several years until the early 1950s, and one of his staff was Rosie Lightfoot from Gillside Farm. When the shop closed the building was eventually taken down. Sadly no trace now remains after the road was widened.

Now all we have left are these wonderful pictures. Our thanks to Warren Allison and the Kilner family for them and the feelings they evoke of happy days relaxing in the beautiful surroundings of Patterdale.

The view today across to the Church from where Kilners Tea Garden once stood. Time for a revival??