Bowness on Lake Windermere, 1981

Wednesday 3 June 1981. A trip out to Bowness-on-Windermere in the Lake District.

Lake Windermere is England's largest lake, by length and surface area and volume. It is 11 miles long (18 kilometres) and 1 mile (1.6 kilometres) wide at its widest point. It reaches a depth of 210 feet (64 metres) and yet is dwarfed by some Scottish lochs and Northern Irish loughs.

Finding a car parking space even in 1981 was difficult enough, at time of writing in 2023 it is nigh on impossible unless you get there really early in the morning or are willing and able to walk a long way!

Bowness is just over halfway up the lake from south to north and the line of the lake takes a gentle curve to the west at Bowness. This has formed an area of shingle beach from which a pier and several jetties allow access to various steamer services and pleasure craft.

Looking roughly nor nor west up the lake. Despite the name it is more a lake than a mere, which is defined as being broad in relation to its depth, not the case at Windermere. There is a town also called Windermere one and a half miles (2 kilometres) north of Bowness so the term "Lake Windermere" doesn't so much describe it twice, but serves to distinguish the lake from the town.

Lake cruiser Teal setting out from Bowness. At the time there were four large cruisers on the lake: Tern (1881), Swift (1900), Teal (1936), and Swan (1938). Swift was broken up in 1998, 17 years after this visit.

The beach and moorings at Bowness. In addition to the large "steamers" (they were all converted to diesel engines in the 1950s), there are numerous smaller pleasure boats from small row boats and self-drive motor boats to mid-sized cruisers, some of which visit stops at the head (north) of the lake and/or the foot (south) of the lake and many which take you for a boat ride around a few islands, the largest being Belle Isle, which is 0.62 miles (one kilomettre) in length, oriented southwest to northeast opposite Bowness.

The slender beach, as with the one at Waterhead at the top of the lake, is a favourite haunt of many of the lake's waterfowl and ducks and swans often expect to share some of your picnic with you! Which does lead them to eating far too much bread than is good for them and can even be dangerous as when wet it expands and can cause blockages to their windpipes.

A line of rowboats pulled up onto the shingle with a couple of mid-sized launches waiting to go out on sight-seeing cruises. Nearest us is Muriel II, built by Borwicks in the nearby town of Windermere in 1935-6. With open air bench seating in the bows she has a single enclosed deck behind.

Another shot of Muriel II later in the afternoon, returning from a sightseeing cruise. This photograph was for many years my only successful magazine front cover shot.

It was published in the July issue of the following year of the magazine Lakescene, a brilliant surprise and achievement of a long cherished milestone made even better when I flipped the page to see another of my shots taking the entirety of the magazine's page 3. Ah yes - a Page 3 photographer...! I would achieve another couple of cover shots in later years in other magazines, but as they say: you always remember your first!

Not that I was the only photographer active that day! These three ladies were taking joint interest in getting the very best from their Kodak 110 Instamatic camera. These took a negative about the size of your ring finger's fingernail.

A brief foray into Bowness itself away from the lakeside. The parish church of St Martin dates from an earlier church which was on this site as early as the year 1203. This burned down in 1480 and the current church was built and consecrated in 1483.

The main shopping street of Bowness is found on the steep rise from the lakeside leading towards the town of Windermere. Thus it can be very busy with traffic whilst often being crowded by tourists.

There are a few side streets but Bowness could hardly be called a large town. Towards the outskirts there are more tranquil scenes to be found.

Back at the lake. The three ladies from before have finished their film in the Instamtic camera. "Have you taken all 12?" comes an indignant voice, "Eeh, I'm going to have to buy another film now ready for Christmas!"

Return to Lake District and Cumbria Index

Garda, Lake Garda, and Homeward

Monday 5 July 2003. We are on the last leg of our last look at Lake Garda on the last day of our holiday. Let's hope it lasts...

Hey up... At the time of Napoleon the French armies gained control of much of northern Italy. Having gotten back on board the Leger coach this is what we see as we approach the town of Garda. The blighters are still here! So, singing a well-chosen Abba song we wave gaily as we pass...

Garda has a curved bay facing onto the lake and is altogether another reason why we don't want to go home again so soon. "Do you know how much rain we get in our Lake District?" I demanded of a French dragoon, casually swatting his sabre aside. His eyes crossed. It wasn't his sabre...

We followed the curve of the lakeside into town. Bars and gelateria all over the place. An excellent last stopping point for the holiday.

And in the town, more pavement cafes and bars. There was a parish church dating back to the 6th-7th centuries, though it was rebuilt from 1530. Unfortunately the money ran out and the church didn't get finished until 1764. We deferred a visit for a chance of a sit down with a glass of Aperol...

Then it was back on the coach and the return to Riva del Garda, passing through more of the road tunnels through the cliffs as we approached Torbole. I think I mentioned that a few years later the tunnels would be used for a car chase scene in the 2006 Bond film Casino Royale. Somewhere along this bit an Aston Martin car had to be fished out of the lake with a crane after a stunt driver had a slight mishap...

We got off the coach in Riva and then had a surprise as a bunch of determined chaps came round the corner, legging it for all they were worth. Were they still after Bond? No, he wouldn't be here for another two years, it was a running race. We soon noticed TV cameras all over the town.

Not long afterwards the runners had spaced themselves out nicely as the fit ones pulled away and the less fit ones puffed and panted behind. I puffed and panted from behind a nice ornamental glass dish with ice cream, pineapple, strawberries and fresh cream... It was hard going...

Tuesday 6 July 2003. We were picked up at Riva and driven to Verona airport for our flight back home to Manchester. I think I'm right in saying this was the first time we had boarded a plane the old-fashioned way, by walking out onto the tarmac to climb the steps instead of walking along an air corrider to step onto the aeroplane on the level.

Our flight would take us up over the Dolomites and the Alps which, it must be said, is better than flying into the side of them. Join us on another holiday soon!

Lake Garda and Northern Italy, 2003 Index

The Coastal Path Back to Riva

Wednesday 30 June 2003. It was our first day on holiday at Lake Garda and so far we had walked from Riva where we were staying, along to Torbole and were now heading back.

The shingle beaches were by then full of people. Not all the young ladies were as fully dressed as this, but I baulk at pointing cameras deliberately at topless sunbathers. Not so much the Italian older males though, who were wandering up and down with mini video cameras held high above their heads, pointing at any likely looking opportunity. Not even trying to be furtive about it. Either they live sad lonely lives or they... no, they must lead sad lonely lives...

We came to the bridge over the Fiume Sarca, the only river flowing into the lake on its northern edge.

Looking north from the side of the bridge, the river had flowed down from the mountains and was quite fast-flowing.

Here and there were small inlets where boats for hire could be taken out onto the lake. Some boats were brought by their owners. This was a fairly large catamaran, resting on the grass whilst the owner was presumably looking for somewhere to park his car. This end of Lake Garda is very popular with German tourists who live close enough to treat it as a day out.

Then we came to a place where the cliffs fell steeply into the lake and the path petered out, forcing us onto the narrow pavements at the side of a very fast road. Well, the drivers were very fast - heck even the cyclists were taking no prisoners...

The road is called the Via Gardesana which I took to translate as the Garden Road - though Google Translate seems to translate it into English as "Via Gardesana"... Not a lot of help! Well I'm sticking to my version unless there are any fully fledged Italian speakers out there to contradict me?

There's only the one river flowing into the lake from the north, but the Torrente Albola is a stream that trundled its way under our path.

We were closer to Riva now than Torbole and were starting to fancy (if I can use such a term for crawling on hands and knees with tongues lolling out) a nice glass of something.

We stood up long enough to take a photo by propping the camera on top of a litter bin and setting the self-timer (gas mark 4 for 1/250 seconds).

No ferries stopped off at this point so I presumed this one was either out of use or had been booked for a private party.

Just a bit further on was a lakeside cafe. That'll do nicely!

The birds were really tame. They would hop onto the tables and take a crumb from your fingers. Sudden movements soon made them flutter away in alarm though.

We had good seats right on the edge of the lake so I got out the sketch pad to while away half an hour whilst my limonata got warm...

Lake Garda and Northern Italy, 2003 Index

A Morning in Zell-am-See

Tuesday 15 August 2000. Tuesday morning found us back in Zell-am-See for a couple of hours free time.

The bus dropped us off just a short way from the Grand Hotel that we saw last night in the distance as we sat by the lake in the twilight.

The lake was as spectacular by daylight as it had been by night. The railway was laid alongside the lake and we had to cross the lines to get into the town. Two seperate lines went into the station. The main line went through but a second light railway line that we saw last night terminated at the station, from Krimml through Shüttdorf where we were staying. Following our stay in Zell the afternoon will be a train ride on the Gisela Express to Kitzbühel.

We have to stand at the level crossing whilst a train goes through to the station on our right. Then we can walk into the town and take in the sights and smells of the main street.

We'll start with the sights. Zell was a wonderful place, with only a few buildings such as the Grand Hotel that were not the by now familiar chalet design. We were fascinated by the number of buildings in the famous music box shape. Houses, hotels, petrol stations, shops, sheds and barns were all the same basic shape. I wondered if they played music if you lifted the roof...

Now the smells. Shops had set up displays along the streets and smoked meat of various kinds added their aroma to the clear mountain air. Sausages, salamis, bacon rolls and rashers...

Miss Franny doesn't like smoked food and it wouldn't have been the easiest souvenir to transport home, but the next shop helped fill her bag with a cow bell and a yodelling teddy bear... In fact half the people on the coach seemed to buy a yodelling teddy! We knew this because they set off singing "Yodel-ay-delayee-oh!" at every slightest movement - which made for a hilarious moment at the end of the week when drivers John and Keith were loading bags into the coach, most of which went "Yodel-ay-delayee-oh!" as soon as they were picked up!

The tallest building in the town was this old tower, now a museum, rising above the yellow umbrella. The Vogt tower is the oldest building in the town and was first referenced in 926 CE, making it well over 1,000 years old. It was described then as an escape tower both for local military and town residents, though whether they were expected to escape from an attacking force or whether it was a contest to see if, once in, they could get out again I'm not sure... It has four floors of local historical displays and artifacts.

It was a festival holiday in Austria. By the church the locals were dressed in their finery and there were plenty of national costumes in evidence. The three ladies were pleased to pose - well, two of them anyway - even after my horrendous attempts to speak their language! Or maybe it was pity...

The men, meanwhile, were playing soldiers - dragging a small brass cannon around. You could tell from the air of excitement amongst them that it was going to be fired! They marched in a twin file with a marching band to the square, set up the cannon with as much fussing and pomp they could muster until the urge to fire it was too much. It made a loud crack, sad to say nothing more, but they all seemed satisfied and there was much laughter and comradely back-slapping. Their wives looked on with expressions of forbearance and indulgance. There was now an air of "They'll be satisfied again now until next year..."

Time was marching on though and with a last look at the square and the old museum we went back down to the lake, setting off towards the station. We had time to cross the lines again for a look at the lake.

By gum, they don't half feed up the livestock! This oversized swan was made for a festival and then afterwards when no one could think of what to do with it, it was left on the lake to keep an eye on speeding pedalloes...

Ok! Back to the station! It's time for us to board the Gisela Express that will take us on a train ride through the Alps to the resort or town of Kitzbühel. Food is provided onboard and will cause not a little hilarity. Join us for the next thrilling instalment!

Return to Austria 2000 Index

Evening Stroll to Zell-am-See

Monday 14 August 2000. We returned to the Pinzgauhof hotel in Schüttdorf and had our evening meal. Then we decided to go out for another walk as it was still warm outside. We found this little train waiting to be photographed... I obliged!

We decided to walk down to Zell-am-See - the lake which was supposed to be about a quarter hour's walk from the hotel. The town was a little further and we were due to go there the following day anyway. We found this little train waiting to be photographed... I obliged!

I'm not sure if we were the only ones wandering about from our party, but the only people we met were locals out for an evening stroll. The little diesel car was one used on the Ziller Valley railway which was a light railway connecting Zell-am-See with Krimml Falls (which we would see later in the week) and up the Ziller Valley to Fügen - which we would see on a future visit.

We reached the lake and sat watching the sun set. We decided not to carry on into Zell as we were due to go there in the morning anyway and our feet were letting us know they'd had enough for one day!! The lights of the town are in front of us; the brightest lights are on the building occupying land that juts out into the lake: the Grand Hotel.

It went dark pretty quickly once it had started. We were far south of England and the closer you get to the equator, the shorter twilight is. I had to use flash on this photo to stop the foreground from just being a blank dark shadow.

It was dark walking back! Luckily there were signposts to help. Well, except that they didn't mention Schüttdorf. There was a signpost for a golf club with a restaurant and a mini golf course and I presume that's a warning to locals to Shut the back door maybe... There were rumbles of thunder up in the mountains too. We got back to the hotel ok though without getting wet. Tomorrow will be a morning trip to the town of Zell-am-See and then a ride on a historic train to Kitzbühel.

Return to Austria 2000 Index