Return to the Lakes - Trains, Boats and a Plane

There were plenty of cars and bikes, too!

In the end the weather today wasn’t much worse than yesterday, with occasional drizzle. The first stop was at Haverthwaite for the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway - a fairly conventional standard gauge heritage line. The route is cut into, and sometimes through, the rock alongside the River Leven and was an important link when built with ferry and boat services direct to London and other major centres.

Our loco was a visitor from the Kent and East Sussex Railway.

The building of this stretch of line enabled larger steamers on the lake as previously they’d had to navigate a few miles up the river. If I have a criticism it’s the fact that when I alighted from the train the gift shop was closed “for 5 minutes!” I hung about but there was no sign of anyone reopening it so I gave up, hopefully they were more on the ball later in the day. 

From the railway it was only a few minutes drive to the Lakeland Motor Museum. That was well worth the visit and in the end probably a lot easier using the walker than the scooter. As you’d expect there are lots of cars and motorcycles but, as per the title of this episode, boats and a single plane. Most of the cars were old enough to avoid me having actually owned them but there were a few that have been on my possible shopping list at one time or another. 

A 1959 Scootacar Mk 1, built by the locomotive builders Hunslets of Leeds, the story is that one of the directors’ wives wanted something easier to park than her Jaguar!

The Flying Flea replica - they were a French design but after three fatal accidents they were deemed too dangerous to fly.

A collection of beautiful motorcycles.

After a very nice roast beef sandwich for lunch I finished the visit with their separate Campbell Bluebird exhibition space which also includes a small Swallows and Amazons display relating to a passage in Pigeon Post. I may have missed out on seeing the real Bluebird K7 but I did get to see the replica! 

Mrs Blackett from Pigeon Post

For the sake of it I made my way back to the hotel via the cable ferry across the lake - due the the necessary slack in the cables it does travel with a curious crab-like motion but in the days before motor transport and with poor roads it must have been invaluable. 

I do like stopping in the Inn Collection Group’s establishments, The staff are all friendly and pleasant and it’s noticeable that they take time to smile and say hello to children, plus one earlier wandered round with biscuits and sausages for the dogs in the bar.