Lake Windermere
This summer I made my first trip to the Lake District. Staying in Windermere, England, it was a short walk to the town centre and then down towards the lake itself. I was really taken with the area. It wasn’t too busy, though clearly most folk there were tourists. It has a real village feel. Unlike many town centres today, I did not see any shops permanently closed or lying derelict. The pandemic put paid to many small businesses, and with the resultant working from home and the increase in online shopping, town centres have been badly impacted. Windermere has not been affected, and this is clearly the result of tourism. There are a good number of hotels, guest houses and Airbnb’s, along with a variety of shops, restaurants and coffee outlets. There is a buzz about the place. and it was good to be able to take time out, sitting outside with a coffee on the pavement, people watching. The weather was mixed, but that didn’t prevent taking advantage of the wonderful scenery and the woodland walks that are on offer.
I was struck by the appearance of the houses in Windermere. I didn’t know until arriving that quarrying slate was big business many years ago, and houses were built using this material, resulting in the town having a distinctive character. Even the walls surrounding the gardens, were constructed using slate. I’ve seen dry stone dykes in Scotland, walls built with individual stones rather than uniform bricks, but I didn’t know the use of slate was typical of the area and was delighted how it looked.
I’ve since heard there is a tour of the slate quarry at Honister, an hour away by car from Windermere, where you can learn about the history of this industry. There was no time to take this in, but it’s a thought for another trip.
Getting to Windermere was straightforward enough until the last few miles. It’s a thing in the UK, that Google maps will do a great job in navigating you towards your destination, and then at the last moment take you down a narrow, one-track road, with little or no passing places just to save you a minute and half over a three-hour trip. And of course, the rain thundered down in that moment, making visibility practically non-existent. I didn’t expect this, despite driving regularly around Scotland. We have many small, narrow roads and it’s no surprise when Google thinks it knows better. For whatever reason, I didn’t expect the same experience when driving to Windermere in England for the sake of a few seconds. Needless to say, on the return journey, Google did its best to take me back that same route. Fortunately, I ignored it and made my way to the motorway on sensible roads, via a route that was only slightly longer. Back at work, I retold this story, and it was no surprise that everyone has had a similar experience while using Google as a Sat-Nav. I’m old enough to recall driving without the aid of Google Maps, using a paper map and scribbled notes stuck to my dashboard, along with my memory of having studied directions before setting off. I still got lost at times, but I’m not convinced that plugging my phone into my car and relying on the technology is much of an improvement.
The Fiction Factory 