Church

St Patrick's is remarkably privileged to have a particularly fine instrument which was built by leading organ builders of the Victorian period, William Hill, who also built, amongst others, the organs at Ely and Chester Cathedrals, King's College Cambridge and the Chapel Royal.  

In October 2012 the organ was dismantled by Andrew Carter of Wakefield whose firm renovated the organ to a very high standard and increased its number of pipes from 660 to 931. It was reinstalled in March 2013 to great acclaim. The cost was £75,000, of which £60,000 was raised by the Friends with significant contributions from two principal donors, Stephen Gorton and Mike Town. The Carlisle Diocese provided us with a loan for the remaining £15,000 which has now been repaid thanks to the success of the Church's concert programme and Mike Town's weekly "The Local Organist Entertains" that takes place at 8.30pm mainly on Mondays during the summer.

What happens on Boon Days?  

Every month or so a group of helpers, church-goers and non church-goers, meet in St Patrick's churchyard at Patterdale, to spend a couple of hours tidying it up. We call these sessions "Boon Days" and they are open to anyone wishing to come along. They are good fun as well as having the  satisfaction in seeing the results of two hours' collaborative effort.