Recently I’ve written several times about Lake District places associated with William Wordsworth, the great nineteenth century romantic poet. In addition to describing a visit to Wordsworth House in Cockermouth and seeing the tremendous work that has been done to recover from the devastating floods of November 2009, I posted a further article summarising the Wordsworth houses currently open to the public.

Hawkshead Grammar School

Wordsworth in Hawkshead

In the first of these there is the Hawkshead Grammar School. After the death of their mother William and his brother Richard attended the school here between 1779 and 1787. Ann Tyson’s cottage where they lodged survives, now used as a holiday cottage. The school ceased operating as such more than century ago. It is owned by a charitable trust and is open to the public. You can even see William’s name carved with a penknife, as was schoolboy practice, in the wood of a schoolroom desk.

Wordsworth and Penrith

Penrith was the home town of both the poet’s parents. His father John Wordsworth was the son of a lawyer and land agent who also farmed at nearby Sockbridge. John followed in his father’s footsteps (without the farming) and as quite a young man was appointed as Sir James Lowther’s agent in West Cumberland and so occupied the Lowther-owned house in Cockermouth, which in time became William’s birthplace as well as that of his sister Dorothy and their brothers. William’s mother, Anne Cookson, often brought her children from Cockermouth to stay with their grandparents William and Dorothy Cookson in their home on Borrowgate, sometimes for long periods, and some of the children’s early schooling was here. After Anne’s early death at the age of only thirty it was to Penrith that William would travel from Hawkshead to spend the school holidays, and later from Cambridge.

These two towns may be less associated with Wordsworth’s poetry than the later homes at Grasmere and Rydal, but nevertheless they form an important part of his early story.

As I started to write this item for our blog the newspapers, radio and TV, both local and national, were full of Lake District and wider Cumbrian stories.  More than a foot (>300 mm) of rain in little more than twentyfour hours had swollen rivers, formed lakes where previously there were none, and generally made the lives of many Cumbrian residents a misery.  Bridges had been destroyed, and it was just being reported that a policeman attempting to save others had been lost as the bridge on which he was standing was swept away.  Clearly this has been an exceptional weather event which is going to have massive human consequences. I trust that by the time this post is due to appear on the blog the big clean-up will be well under way.

It was, however, not water to this extent that was on my mind when I first thought of writing about things to do in and around Coniston in the winter.  Rather it was a simple response to the fact that things to do indoors take on an added significance in the colder months of the year.

For many decades one of the economic difficulties faced by the Lake District tourism industry was the shortness of the season.  Gradually this has been changing. Of course, the enthusiastic outdoor person may laugh at wimps who want to be inside in the warmth.  As someone who used to love the battle against an icy wind, and revel in pressing footsteps deep into mountain snow, I can empathise with that.

As the years have worn on, however, I’ve come to appreciate that pretending to be Hilary on Everest or Scott in the Antarctic is not the only way to enjoy the uplands in winter.  There are warmer occupations.  So what does the area immediately around Coniston have to offer the person who prefers to keep reasonably warm and dry?

The Ruskin Museum

In Coniston village itself there is the Ruskin Museum.  This should not be confused with Brantwood, which was John Ruskin’s home on the opposite bank of the lake from 1871 until his death in 1900, and which I’ll mention in a later paragraph. The museum is in the village itself and although it includes a considerable amount of Ruskin-related material it also covers a far wider range of local interests including the Coniston Coppermines in “Coppermines Valley” up the slopes of Coniston Old Man above the village.

Originally established by the writer and philosopher W. G. Collingwood in 1901 it has been extended substantially down the years.  It has informative displays on the local (now defunct) copper mining and slate industries as well as many local crafts. Most recently the part of the museum devoted to Donald Campbell and his waterspeed records has been greatly expanded.  Sometime in 2010 it is planned to bring the restored Bluebird to a permanent display here.

Brantwood

What John Ruskin would have thought of careering up and down the Coniston lake at 250-300 miles per hour we’ll never know, but certainly he considered the view across the water to Coniston Old Man from his study window to be more than outstanding.  I guess that under today’s planning regimes he would not have been permitted to develop the old cottage into the house as it now is, but thankfully he lived before the age of such restraints and we can now visit Brantwood to enjoy exhibits of the art and philosophy of this highly influential artist, writer and social reformer of the mid/late-nineteenth century.

To quote the Brantwood web site, its displays and activities “reflect the wealth of cultural associations associated with Ruskin’s legacy – from the Pre Raphaelites and Arts and Crafts Movement to the founding of the National Trust and the Welfare State.”  Over the years I’ve paid many highly enjoyable visits to Brantwood, and particularly recall an exhibition describing the influence of Ruskin’s thinking on Ghandi.

Brantwood, however, is not only concerned with the past.  It has a lively programme of contemporary style events.  For example, the Severn Studio has an exhibition under the title “Space and Place” showing the recent work of five south Cumbrian textile artists.

Oh, and there’s also some good food to be enjoyed!  As the house doesn’t open until 11:00 am you might want to enjoy the Ruskin Museum in Coniston village in the morning and then go on to Brantwood for lunch before touring the house in the afternoon.

Places Nearby

The above two places can easily occupy a relaxed winter’s day before the darkness falls and one retreats to a warm Coniston area hotel or guest house. A second day might involve a trip to nearby Hawkshead with its Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter connections. Or, a little further away, how about the Laurel and Hardy museum in Ulverston?

Take Care in the Winter Outdoors

Finally, if you decide that it’s the outdoors for you, then please make sure that you’re properly equipped, check the weather forecast and the daylight times … and don’t take risks on the fells.  The rescue services have enough on their plates without having you as another of their statistics.

Check Winter Opening Hours

One important point about visiting anywhere in the Lake District during the winter months (or for that matter any tourist destination around the whole of the UK outside of the big cities) is:  Check the winter opening hours.  Not only are daily times usually shorter than in the summer, but some venues may be closed totally for several weeks, especially in late-December and January. Check the relevant websites carefully before travelling far:

Brantwood – home of John Ruskin

The Ruskin Museum in Coniston village

The Beatrix Potter Gallery, Hawkshead

I hesitated before starting to write this. After all, why should anyone else be interested in a record of how my wife and I spent a few days in the Lake District. We’d driven north to look after grandchildren for a few days, then there was a gap before I had to be north again for two preaching engagements, so rather than return home between the two we took our tent to the Crake Valley, close to where the River Crake flows out from the foot of Coniston Water (picture below, taken in the rain).

Why should this interest anyone else? Well, it strikes me that an important point about these days is that they were wet. Yes, more than damp … wet!

This  is not intended to put off those considering a visit to the Lakes, but rather to demonstrate that rainy weather does not have to destroy an holiday in the English Lake District. It can, in fact, add interest as one searches for alternatives to the obvious; and in the Lake District one doesn’t have to search far.

1. Go prepared. Check out in advance what indoor places of interest are to be found in the area. Research historical events and famous people connected with the area, and see whether there are museums or historic houses associated with them. Ask which writers and artists have worked around here, are they commemorated in some way, and are their works on display? Why not use our “English Lakes” site to help with your planning?
2. However well you think you know the area, take every opportunity to scavenge the racks of brochures that are in just about every hotel foyer, restaurant, coffee shop, trinkets store, petrol filling station, etc, etc, etc.. You’ll almost certainly be surprised to find something that you didn’t imagine would be around here, or which you vaguely knew about but had forgotten.
3. Don’t let a bit of rain turn you totally away from the idea of an outdoor holiday. Use the gaps in the heavy rain to take short walks. If you’re visiting the Lakes I assume you’ll have waterproofs with you.  Put them on and go out.

Day One:  Coniston Water, Millom and Haverigg

Wednesday: We were camping (the tent attaches to the back of our estate car – more on that in a later post) at a small secluded site at Blawith, between Torver and Greenodd.  We’d chosen this because, although as a child in the 1950s I’d often visited my uncle’s farm just up the road between Lowick and Gawthwaite, we’d never before explored the area in any detail.

The morning was damp but not actually raining, so skirting the private land over which there appears to be a right of way only to use the Coniston passenger launch jetty, we found our way down to a point at the water’s edge where there is a canoe launching point.  Even in the damp air with the mist over the hills it was a  beautiful, peaceful spot and until we reached the road on our return walk by a different path we never saw a single soul.

For the afternoon we chose to visit a town and headed west to Millom, home of the late Norman Nicholson, possibly the most outstanding of 20th-century “Lakes Poets”.  It would have been nice to spend some time in the local museum, which I’m told is very informative on the history of the area – this grey town between the heights of Black Combe and the Duddon Estuary which for generations was home to a major steel-producing plant based on the local availability of haematite ore, all now gone. This, however, will have to wait for another trip as we decided to head further west to Haverigg, a small coastal village.

If you’re lover of windswept views of sand and sea then this outer point of the Duddon estuary, looking south across to Askam and Barrow with Walney Island wrapped around the tip of the Furness Peninsula, must be for you.  As we reached the coast the rain had stopped.  We strolled onto the first few sand dunes (an area of dune said to be the largest in England, and recognised now as a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its extensive natural habitats).  I’d like to spend more time exploring this area.  For today, though, we sat for a while on a seat overlooking the estuary, enjoying the view, then drank an excellent cup of tea at the beach cafe. Across from the cafe is an information board about the Duddon Estuary – one of the best, in the sense of being genuinely informative and interestingly put together, that I’ve seen anywhere. (I don’t expect you to be able to read the text on the photo!)

Day Two:  Barrow-in-Furness

Thursday: Still raining.  And disaster struck.  It’s not easy to lock the keys inside our car; it’s designed to make it difficult, but I succeeded.  “Don’t worry,” said my wife.  “I’ve got my keys in my bag.”  “Where’s your bag?”  “Oh! … It’s in the car!”  That occupied the morning, but the Green Flag emergency call-out man did a splendid job, and by lunch-time we were mobile.  We decided to go west again, this time on the south side of the Duddon, so headed out past Greenodd. Ulverston and Dalton to Barrow.

Now what can I say of my birthplace?  My parents left just after World War II, and took me with them. I was only three years old so I never knew Barrow well, but over the years came to think of it as a rather dull, dusty, declining and dispirited town with little going for it apart from the fluctuating fortunes of the shipbuilding industry.  Today, however, I saw a brighter Barrow.  The town is picking itself up.  As we walked through the streets, even on a dull day, there seemed to be more energy about the place.

I’m cheered at that.  But actually, our focus now was not to be on the present but on Barrow’s past.  There is a excellent museum in one of the old docks; three floors of exhibits on the history of this remarkable town and its growth from almost nothing to a major industrial centre based on iron, ships and railways within little more than thirty years in the nineteenth century.  It was indeed a miracle town of the industrial revolution.  For me it has a special interest as one of my four sets of great-grandparents arrived in the area from Liverpool during the 1870s, but even without a personal connection The Dock Museum can provide a fascinating afternoon out, not least for its scale models of ships launched from the shipyards here – and there’s a nice coffee shop. The Barrow Dock Museum is something of which the town can rightfully be proud.  (I wonder whether it is fully appreciated locally).

There’s much more to Barrow for the visitor. The lover of history can investigate the magnificent ruins of Furness Abbey, the ancient Cistercian monastery from which the powerful abbots of long ago strongly influenced both the religious and economic life of this region, and beyond.   The nature lover can spend fascinating hours at the reserves on Walney Island, and a drive back to Ulverston along the “coast road” on the south of the peninsula is beautiful, but for now we had to return to base camp and chose to go through Askam (briefly to revive childhood memories of walks along the sand to Dunnerholme with the dogs) and Broughton.

Day Three:  Hawkshead and Coniston

Friday. I wish we’d known the significance of the day as we chose to visit the Beatrix Potter properties of the National Trust at Hawkshead and Near Sawrey … but as described in an earlier post on this blog we found them both closed.  (Warning!  Don’t try to visit Beatrix Potter on a Friday.  She’s “not at home” to visitors on that day).  However, after eating our sandwiches in the Hill Top car park, we drove back and wandered around Hawkshead under umbrellas, found a good bookshop and visited the old Grammar School (pictured above), founded in 1585 and attended by William Wordsworth from 1779-1787.

Next stop was Coniston village.  I wanted some photographs of the Ruskin monument in the churchyard, and obligingly the rain stopped for a while.  On previous visits I’d not noticed that W. G. Collingwood (at different stages of his life Ruskin’s student, assistant, secretary, travelling companion, colleague and biographer – as well as artist, archeologist, antiquarian and author in his own right) is buried in the adjacent plot.  Then to complete a trio of gravestone photos I walked to the modern burial ground a few hundred yards away to see the grave of Donald Campbell who was killed in 1967 when his Bluebird speedboat crashed on Coniston Water during an attempt on the world water speed record.

I’ve visited the Ruskin Museum in Coniston several times in the past, and decided this time to give it a miss.  If you’ve never been then you should include this on your itinerary, but I satisfied myself with a photograph of the temporary entrance as in the very near future a new extension is to be opened housing the restored Bluebird, remains of which were recovered a few years ago along with Donald Cambell’s body (at last laid to rest in 2001) after eventually being found in the depths of the lake.  I hope to return when the new exhibits are open.

The weather by now was blustery but dry, so after a cup of tea in a very nice cafe a walk to the lake was just what was needed.  More photographs, then on the way back we stopped off to look at an exhibition of two Lakeland photographers.  Rather unusually they were housed in an upstairs gallery over  the Fudge Shop on a small retail development, strategically positioned so that the footpath is routed through it, between the village and the lake.  I was very impressed with the work of both Trevor Brown and David Briggs.

Day Four:  Windermere and Near Sawrey

Saturday: Overnight it had poured down, but our trusty tent kept us snug and dry. We took it down between showers, and drove to Lakeside, at the foot of Windermere.

The plan had been to visit the freshwater aquarium there but we changed out minds and left it for another visit. It look as though this could provide a very interesting hour or two on a rainy day, or even to retreat from the sun when it’s too hot, but I simply cannot understand how the National Park planning authorities allowed it to be built in a style more suited to a small town supermarket. Why on earth isn’t it at least faced in local slate to make it fit in with the general environment?

The weather now improved and we had a very good, intermittently sunny day mostly around Windermere. Firstly Fell Foot Park, owned by the National Trust and providing access to a beautiful stretch of the lake shore. Given my interest in the local rivers it allowed me photograph the point at which the River Leven flows out from the lake to commence its short coastward journey.

We then moved on toward the northern end of the lake, to Brockhole. headquarters of the Lake District National Park Authority. The house, gardens and a stretch of lake shoreline are open to the public free of charge (apart from a modest car park fee). The house includes an information centre, Lake District exhibitions, a very nice restaurant, a bookshop and a film theatre. This is a “must-see” for any visitor to this part of the Lake District. Many special events are held at Brockhole on a wide variety of Lakeland themes. Views from the garden are little short of spectacular.

We also fitted in a visit to Hill Top, the Beatrix Potter farmhouse, compensating from our failed attempt the previous day, and then it was time to hit the motorway. We’d had an excellent few days. The weather didn’t allow the intended photographic exploration of the Crake Valley; that will have to wait for another time; but we demonstrated clearly that damp days don’t have to be a spoiled holiday.

My wife and I have just returned from another expedition to the English Lake District, this time to the southern lakes. We camped near the foot of Coniston Water with the intention of building up a better collection of photos of the Crake valley as well of the Coniston and Hawkshead area.

Well, things didn’t turn out quite as planned.  Several days and nights of frequent rain storms hampered the photography.  In spite of the damp, though, we had a great time and the limited number of good photos this time has the advantage of requiring another trip in the not too distant future.

Hill Top and Hawkshead – Beatrix Potter

On Friday we decided to have an indoor day and to visit the Beatrix Potter sites.  Why didn’t we take our National Trust handbook with us?  It would have told us that Hill Top is closed on Fridays.

I really don’t understand this.  Certainly the property has to be protected against too much visitor stress, and limitations on the number of visitors per day are fully justifiable, but closing the region’s leading attraction on a weekday during the height of the visitor season is beyond my comprehension.

Initially my frustration was personal, but of course as a member I ought to have checked my handbook.  However, a large proportion of visitors are not members and would never imagine that such an important site would be closed.  Sitting in the car eating an egg sandwich before driving back to Hawkshead I watched car after car arriving, unloading children.  They would walk cheerfully as far as the “Closed today” notice board only to return dejected, almost tearful, anticipation squashed.

“Never mind,” parents were probably saying, “there’s the Beatrix Potter gallery in Hawkshead.  We’ll go and see Peter Rabbit there.”  Hmm!  If I don’t fully understand the closure of the house, I certainly don’t understand at all the mentality of closing both of the Beatrix Potter locations on the same day of the week.  This is just incomprehensible.

We did eventually get to Hill Top the following day, and enjoyed it.  I am an admirer of the National Trust and its work, but do believe that it needs to give much more serious thought to its closure policy. at least during July and August, when so many children are being sent away disappointed from both places – not to mention the thousands of gallons of petrol being burned up each year on these fruitless trips along the country lanes; should this be added to the Trust’s carbon footprint?

The above photograph, taken last Saturday, shows the house as it is today, dressed in its summer greenery. This, however, is not as Beatrix Potter bought it. She added extensions to the original property. She was not a preservationist of the type that insists on keeping everything unchanged. She knew that one has to move with the needs of the times.

In this case, she wanted to install a farm manager so built the extension wing visible on the left of the photo to house him and his family (this part is not open to visitors). Internally, as well, she made changes. The sophisticated fire surround in the parlour was the first that I noticed; not at all typical of a small Lakeland farmhouse and apparently installed by Beatrix Potter after buying it at a local sale. She also added a room in which to hang some of her brother’s paintings. Preservation and progress were equal constituents of this phase of Hill Top’s development.

- David Murray -
England’s Lakes