Swallows and Amazons

If you are not interested in the Swallows and Amazons books or the life of Arthur Ransome, then don't bother reading this post!!

Today we took a boat cruise on Coniston Water, and spent a couple of hours looking at some of the sites which Arthur Ransome either used or adapted in his wonderful books. Seeing the sites first hand only reinforces how well Ransome described the scenery.
For once in my life, I am speechless!!!! Most of the description for this trip is with the images.

I have loaded some photos onto Flickr, and enthusiasts will know for themselves where a site exists exactly as in the books, and where features have been adapted. One thing is for sure - Wild Cat Island did not disappoint!

Heading to Wales tomorrow.........next post will be from there!

The Lake District

Here we are at Bowness on Windemere. What a beautiful place.......but I suppose I'm saying that about each place we go to, aren't I??
There is something very special about this place, however. Lake Windemere is spellbinding. And of course, having grown up on Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series, Lake Windemere and Coniston Water are places that I have wanted to visit for a long time.

We are spending our time here just walking around and exploring the lakes, picking out some landmarks and sites from the books. The weather for the last week has been very warm for England and just right for me! Temperatures around 25 degrees or so. Perfect for this type of sight seeing and exploring.

This afternoon, on our way back from Coniston Water, we visited Hill Top Farm, the home of Beatrix Potter. This also made me reflect on her work to protect the Lake District, and donation of land to the National Trust.

Tomorrow, we are going out on Coniston Water to look at Peel (aka Wild Cat) Island and other points of interest :-))