Gatepost

Today's the day ........................ to find the faces

As a result of going to the talk on Tuesday about Interesting and Unusual Kendal Buildings, I set out today to try to find one of the curious things that Jamie had mentioned.

It was the gatepost of a house that once had been the home of Kendal artist and sculptor, John Watton. It was here that he had carved into the limestone, his own face and that of his four children.

He was a remarkable man in many ways. He joined the Border Regiment as a Territorial before the outbreak of the Second World War. He was taken prisoner at the time of the evacuation of Dunkirk - but over the course of the next few months he made several abortive attempts to escape. He was eventually moved to a more secure place and as an officer that meant he was incarcerated in the infamous Colditz Castle.

There, he used his artistic skills in forging German documents and passports for fellow officers to use in their escape attempts. He also acted as an official artist and unbelievably, was able to send drawings of life in the castle for publication in The Illustrated London News!

I have walked past his house many, many times in the twenty years we have lived in Kendal - but never noticed this little gem ....................................