FRIDAY. Tewitfield, Lancaster canal
The 2008 trip thus far: 330 Locks; 641 Miles; 65 Swing\Lift Bridges. Bus pass journeys 35
Amazing! Another dry start today; we caught the bus to Coniston, changing en route at Windermere. The driver from Windermere had his work cut out with the narrow lanes and the cars of the visitors, I am getting used to this passenger lark – you can look at the scenery!
Speaking of which, from Ambleside to Hawkshead and Coniston is spectacular. Outcrops, streams and woodland in abundance. It was hard work trying not to miss anything of interest. Myra saw a deer jumping a wall into some woods.
We arrived at Coniston, had a look around and then took the launch for a tour of Coniston water to the southern end and return. The launch was electric powered and the silence was broken only by its bow wave. The tour lasted 105 minutes and it was enjoyable seeing families sailing, rowing, canoeing and generally having fun.
We saw the steam yacht Gondola, which was built for the Furness railway company to ferry passengers from the jetty at the southern end of Coniston water to the village.
It is run on behalf ofthe National Trust and mainly runs between the village and the former home of John Ruskin at Brantwood across the water.
The scenery from water level is stunning, the shoreline is tree lined for most of its length; there were boats pulled ashore in many places with picnics and barbeques in full swing, plenty of room for everyone. The crew gave an interesting commentary, but left plenty of time for us to enjoy the lake and the quiet progress of the launch.
We returned to at Windermere by bus and arrived outside a café just as the owner was closing. He took pity on us and offered to do a fish and chip takeaway for us, to which we agreed. He was friendly and we couldn’t help thinking what would have happened in the South. We thought that it was probable that we would have gone hungry.
Tomorrow, we will have a look at Kendal – weather permitting.
Weather – Overcast, low level cloud which cleared in the afternoon. DRY
