Windermere
Accommodation | Local business
Windermere, the town, the lake, who has not heard about either?
The name is synonymous with the lake district.
What is it about this particular town that kindles such thought in our imagination? Easy access, superb scenery, varied and interesting shopping, local crafts, fishing, walking, boating - you name it and here you will find it.
You can reach Windermere by road, rail and water - unusual these days. The water route is by catching the lake streamers that travel from Lakeside to Bowness and on to Ambleside. Recently we (my wife, I and my father in law) had a really memorable day in the lake district. We were taken by coach to the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway where we took the train to Lakeside, from there the steamer to Ambleside where the coach collected us, then a short tour before heading for home.
The town itself is located a little north of Bowness (on Windermere), a little higher up, but affording fine views over the lake and surrounding hills and country.
As a child I remember many days out to Windermere where we used to buy bamboo canes, cheap fishing reels and insulation tape. My father then made fishing rods by pushing a thin bamboo cane about 2 feet long into a thick cane about 6 feet long. Eyes for the line were taped on, and so was the reel at the bottom.
The result was a cheap fishing rod, but one which let us catch lots of fish. We never had to worry about breaking our rods, or losing them, although we never did either. We used to have several rods out of the boat at the same time.
As this was the 1950s there were lots of fish, at times we could catch them so easily that we just dangled the line over the side of the boat and watch the float. Some years later after my university education I returned and stayed in the same caravan. Venturing onto the lake I remember the disappointment I felt on returning to to the fishing places I knew so well and could not catch anything.
I recently visited Windermere again before writing this review and was delighted to find the place so little changed, the same structure to the town and many of the old shops still there. Yes there were changes, the old post office gone, lots of gifty shops, but underneath all of that it seemed familiar, like and old pullover found while clearing out a childhood bedroom.
Accommodation
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Local Businesses
Cycle Centre
Country Lanes Cycle Centre
The Railway Station, Windermere, Cumbria LA23 1AH
Tel: 015394 44544
Fax: 015394 44544
e-mail: ian@countrylanes.co.uk