Windermere - Izeria

Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England. It is within the Lake District and is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, although considerably smaller than the largest Scottish lochs and Northern Irish loughs. Windermere is about 11 miles (18 km) in length and 1 mile (1.6 km) at its widest, has a maximum depth of 64 metres (210 ft), and has an elevation of 39 metres (128 ft) above sea level. Its outflow is the River Leven, which drains into Morecambe Bay. For administrative purposes the lake is in the unitary authority area of Westmorland and Furness, and it historically formed part of the boundary between Westmorland and Lancashire. The lake has been popular with tourists since the Kendal and Windermere Railway's branch line opened in 1847. The Freshwater Biological Association was established on the shore of Windermere in 1929 and much of the early work on lake ecology, freshwater biology and limnology was conducted here.

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Windermere Way

The Windermere Way is a 45-mile circuit of Windermere, a lake in the English Lake District. The route is wholly within the Lake District National Park and takes in the summits of Wansfell, Loughrigg Fell and Gummer's How as well as passing through the towns of Ambleside and Windermere.

Belle Isle (Windermere)

Belle Isle is the largest of 18 islands on Windermere, a mere in the English Lake District, and the only one ever to have been inhabited. It is 1 km in length. It is rumoured that in Roman times a villa was once built on the island, with a possible connection to the Roman fort at Ambleside. In 1250 it was the seat of the district's Lord of the Manor. It was also a Royalist stronghold during the English Civil War. Island House was built in 1774 to designs by John Plaw. It is unusual in that it is circular in plan, built of brick, three floors high with a four column portico; it draws closely on the Pantheon, Rome. The house was sold along with the island to the wealthy Curwen family who renamed the island after their daughter, Isabella. It was then sold on to Isabella Curwen by her family in 1781 for £1,720 and was permanently renamed after her. The descendants of Isabella and her husband John Christian Curwen lived on the island until 1993. It is called 'Bell Island' not 'Isabella Island' because of use of the shortened form of Isabella- Bella, which lost the 'a' to become 'Bell', spelt 'Belle' by the Ordnance Survey map of 1925 over the years. It was known locally as the Great Island or Long Holme and formerly known as Longholm, before its renaming in 1774. In 1996 (some records suggest 23 December 1994), Belle Isle House suffered serious damage following a large fire. However, it was repaired and is once again a place of residence.

Windermere Ferry

The Windermere Ferry is a vehicular cable ferry which crosses Windermere, the largest lake in England and located within English county of Cumbria. The ferry route forms part of the B5285 road and crosses the lake at about its midpoint, from Ferry Nab in Bowness-on-Windermere to Ferry House at Far Sawrey, a distance of some 490 metres (540 yd). The ferry is owned and operated by Westmorland and Furness Council. The ferry operates all year, with services every 20 minutes from early morning to mid-evening. Each crossing can carry up to 18 cars and over 100 passengers and takes less than 10 minutes. A toll is charged. If the ferry is not operating, the alternative is a road journey of approximately 15 miles (24 km) around either the head or foot of the lake. The historic county boundary between Lancashire and Westmorland runs down the western shore of the lake and also along about three miles (5 km) of the southern section of the eastern shore. Anyone crossing the lake from east to west on the Windermere Ferry thus travels from the historic county of Westmorland to that of Lancashire.

Hawkshead and Claife

Hawkshead and Claife is a National Trust property made up of much of the town of Hawkshead and surrounding Claife Woodlands in Cumbria, England. A notable viewpoint is Claife Viewing Station, a grade II listed ruin, overlooking Windermere. Each room was glazed in differing coloured glass to give the effect of viewing the landscape in the changing seasons. Individual properties in Hawkshead include Tabitha Twitchit's Bookshop, a listed building which formerly displayed works by Beatrix Potter as the Beatrix Potter Gallery. Since the closure of the gallery, the National Trust has been working to keep the art visible in other formats and locations. In 2022 the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Trust – two of the world’s largest Beatrix Potter collections – came together to tell her life story in an exhibition ´Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature`, which opened in London.In 2024, the exhibition travelled to the Morgan Library & Museum in New York.