BB1118
: West
Side Story
Thursday
7th July 2011
No
Jets(kiers) or Sharks. No PJ Proby singing Summerwear.
No one admitting to Feeling Pretty. Just
a BOOTboys
outing down the west side of Lake Windermere.
But
how to get there? By steamer from Bowness to Ambleside,
of course. How else would one take best advantage
of a cloud-shrouded rain-threatening day?!?
John
PL collected Roger T, Tony, James and me and took us to
the Royal Windermere Yacht Club where Roger was able
to use his exalted position to enable us to park for the day.
Royal
Windermere Yacht Club
Bryan
considered that our plan was too
soft. Now preparing for his Himalayan trip in the
Autumn, a walk without hills was of little training value so
he opted to increase the effort expended by cycling
from home in Kendal to Bowness and back. Then
he realised it was a Thursday which meant he had to
remain housebound, babysitting!
We
made our way round to the pier where we met with Mike
who had walked down from the Linthwaite
House Hotel. I
noticed earlier in the week that he had put a link to
the BOOTboys
site on his hotel blog. See Eating
out, and a walk or three.
We
caught the Teal to Ambleside and sat in the open on
the top deck to take best advantage of the view.
The
Teal arrives at Bowness
|
Boat
house at Langdale Chase
|
The
Langdales
Wray
Castle
Approaching
Ambleside
Mike
with brolly
Blelham
Tarn
|
As
we reached the Ambleside landing stage,
the threatened rain began and we hastily
donned our bad weather gear- apart from
Mike, that is, who was sartorially using
an umbrella.
After
a brief examination of the remains at the
Galava Roman Fort, we made our way
round the head of the lake.
Fortunately
there is a footpath that runs within the
woods and fields alongside the road more
or less all the way down to Low Wray, passing
Blelham Tarn en-route.
Galava
Roman Fort
Wray
Castle
|
Approaching
Wray Crag
Here
we turned north east to pick up the track that leads
to Wray Crag where we had lunch. My attempt at
the team picture nearly went horribly wrong when I slipped
on the rocks when rushing back to join the others!
Comitibus: Wray
Crag
Wray
Castle Boat House
|
Looking
north
Wray
Castle Boat House front door
|
We
thought about going round Wray
Castle which is
open to the public for a couple of months before work
starts on its conversion but none of us had our National
Trust membership cards with us and £3.50 is way
beyond our means. Instead, we debated on the likely
success of it as a luxury hotel in such an out of the
way place with limited access and no private lake frontage.
The
view north from near Wray Castle.....
.....
and from a bit further south
We
continued south along the west side of the
lake all the way to the Ferry House.
I
thought we would be catching the ferry back
across but there is now an alternative small
launch for foot passengers, bizarrely named
Muriel II.
Most
of us took that as it drops you off in Bowness
Bay, saving the walk back from Ferry Nab.
Mike,
however, took the ferry as it is the direct
route back to the Linthwaite.
|
Muriel
II
|
A
strange metal boat.
|
Belle
Isle house
|
As
our boat sailed past Belle
Isle, its Georgian
round house brought back memories. In the latter days
of its ownership by the Curwen family they were experimenting
with various ways of making the property commercially viable,
including building a business centre cum lecture theatre
in the grounds.
I
recall that in 1988, when
I worked for Prolific Financial Management,
we used the theatre to explain to the
staff based in Kendal (our administration
centre) our plans for the following year.
On
the lawn, a huge marquee had been erected
for an event to be hosted by King Constantine
of
Greece for the Round Square on the following
day.
Consequently,
we were able to use it that night for a
black tie dinner.
The only way across
to the island was by small boat and it was
blowing a force nine gale. Still,
in those famous words, we counted them all
out and we counted them all back!
|
Belle
Isle, 1988 style
|
We
counted them all out.....
|
.....
and counted them all back in!
|
As
we once were, BOOTboys
1988 style!
Philip
|
Pete
|
Keith
|
Stuart
|
Stan
|
Don
|
Back
to the present day and photos from our boat:
Looking
north-west up to the Kirkstone Pass
Looking
north
On
reaching the Yacht Club, John was baffled
to find that his bleeper wasn't working
and the car doors would not open.
Then
he realised he had left his headlights on
and the car battery was dead.
For
a while we wondered if we might have to
adjourn to the bar whilst the AA were summomed
but it was not to be.
The
car was soon restarted with one of those
"Dynamic Jump Starter" kits and
we were on our way back home.
|
The
Dynamic Jump Starter
|
I
realise, of course, that today we cheated and that this is
only half a West Side Story- that of the lower half will have
to wait for another day. It could be a long wait.
Shore access is much more limited and, other than the
narrow, busy and footpathless road, there is no obvious
route at the southern end. But, to quote for the
last time something from the musical:
Could it be? Yes, it could. Something's coming, something good, If I can
wait! Something's coming, I don't know what it is, But it is Gonna
be great
Don,
7th July 2011
Additional
photos
from Mike:
STATISTICS:
BB1118
|
Thursday
7th July
|
Distance
in miles:
|
15.0
(8.8 on foot)
|
Height
climbed in feet:
|
722
|
Wainwrights:
|
--
|
Other
Features:
|
Lake
Windermere
|
Comitibus:
|
Don, James, John PL, Mike, Roger T,
Tony
|
BOOTboys
routes ares now being put online in gpx format which
should work with most mapping software. You can follow
our route in detail by downloading BB1118.
To
see which Wainwright top was visited on which BB outing
see Which
Wainwright When?
For the latest totals of the mileages and heights see: BB Log.
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Home
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BB04
BB05
BB06
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BB08
BB09
BB10
BB11
Archive
2011
Outings
BB1101
: Wasnfell
Revisited Tuseday
11th January
BB1102
: Recuperation Scar! Thursday 17th
February
BB1103
: A Promenade of
Pensioners Thursday
24th February
BB1104
: The B Team Thursday
3rd March
BB1105
: A Little Bit Of
Wind Thursday
10th March
BB1106
: A Linthwaite
Round Thursday
17th March
BB1107
: Home From The
Pulpit Thursday
24th March
BB1108
: Taking The Brunt Thursday
31st March
BB1109
: Up The Spout Wednesday
6th April
BB1110
: Not The Royal Wedding Friday 29th
April
BB1111
: Kentmere Parts 1 & 2 Thurs
5th, Saturday 7th May
BB1112
: Five Unknown Tarns Wednesday 11th
May
BB1113
: Gurnal Dubbs Revisited Thursday 19th
May
BB1114
: A March Through The Mist Wednesday
1st June
BB1115
: Brief Encounter Wednesday
8th June
BB1116
: Extraordinary and Lesser Mortals Wednesday 15th June
BB1117
: Farewell
David Daw Wednesday
29th June
BB1118
: West
Side Story Thursday
7th July
BB1119
: East
Side Story Wednesday
13th July
BB1120
: All The Way From Barrow Wednesday
20th July
Click on the photos for an enlargement or related large
picture.
Wainwrights
To
see which Wainwright top was visited on which BB
outing see Which
Wainwright When?.
To
download a log of heights and miles and which Wainwrights have
been done by which BOOTboy
in the "modern" era, i.e. since the advent
of BOOTboys
click on
BB
Log.
|