A history of the South Lake district
The landscape of the area formed around 12000 years ago towards the end of the last Ice Age. Two glaciers, one from the Rydal Valley and one from the Troutbeck Valley, met at what is now Bowness, carving the Lake we know today as Windermere. Believed to originate from “Vinandr’s Lake”, the name betrays our Norse roots, with the name Winander Mere surviving into the19th Century. Mere is old English for lake.
Windermere, the largest natural lake in England, is ten and a half miles long and covers nearly fifteen square miles. At it’s deepest it is 219 feet, lying at 128 feet, so the depths are well below sea level. The islands dotting the surface, the biggest of which is Belle Isle, are the remnants of retreating glacial material. The natural history of the Lake is still influenced by the last Ice Age, being one of the last refuges in the UK of the Arctic Char. Its depth, and the orientation of the surrounding hills in relation to the sun, keep water temperature in the depths cold, although the surface can get to 17 C in late summer. Wildfowl use it as a breeding ground, winter retreat, and migration route. Mixed flocks of Canada Geese and Greylags can be seen on the fields all year round, flotillas of Goosanders and Coots can be seen only in winter.
The steamers on the Lake have their origins from completion of the lakeside link of the Furness Railway, being run by British Rail prior to privatisation. Windermere Lake Cruises still run three of the four original boats, the Swan, Teal and Tern, long since converted to diesel from steam. In yet another link to the past, their head office is in Winander House, in Bowness Bay. These boats, and several more modern smaller boats, run a service from Lakeside to Bowness and Ambleside throughout the year, closing only on Christmas Day, with seasonal links in to smaller boats to Fell Foot, Ferry Nab, Brockholes and Wray Castle. In addition, there is a Car Ferry across from Bowness to Ferry Nab, part of the B5285 to Hawkshead, more frequently used to get to Beatrix Potter’s Hill Top .
Bowness village has its origins prior to the thirteenth century. St Martin’s Church, 1483, was built on older foundations. Windermere Town was literally created when the Kendal and Windermere Railway was completed in 1847. Prior to this, the Village was called Birthwaite, a name that lives on in building and road names. Much of the old slate building in Bowness was completed in the 1850s and 60’s, including Elim Lodge. The terraces, North, South and Bank, were built as staff accommodation for the staff at the Belsfield Hotel by the Lake, with each one being for a specific level of job. In another link to the past, much of this building was carried out by the Pattinsons, who are still builders and Estate Owners in the area.
Elim Lodge, built around 1855, has been a Guest House since the mid 1960’s. A visitor who used to live up the road told us that prior to this, our Dining Room was the local Doctor’s consulting room. The story of the name Elim derives from when the Land was being cleared. They found 12 springs, and as there were 12 springs at the Elim Oasis, Moses’ second stop after the Red Sea, they named it accordingly. There is still a spring under a pressure cap under our cellar.
The land around Bowness and Windermere is a combination of small woods and rough pasture. This low in the Lakes, cattle are commonly found alongside the ubiquitous sheep, whereas further up into the fells, only sheep are hardy enough to survive our winters. Several old cattle breeds are starting to make a come back, Highland Cattle particularly in the valley from Ambleside up to Kirkstone, and Belted Galloways around Coniston. Like our tough fell sheep, these breeds can live outdoors all year round, a much more environmentally sustainable way of farming. Herdwick Sheep are the toughest of all, managing to survive by scraping food even under the snow. 95% of all Herdwicks live within 10 miles of Coniston, a factor that left them very vulnerable in the Foot and Mouth outbreak in 2001. They are one of the few breeds which are actually territorial, being born and living on the same patch of fell, to which they will return if moved. This is variously called hefting or hafting, and is also common to the Swaledale of Yorkshire.
