The Ham Nomads

17 Aug 2014. <GB-ENG> Ambleside, & Colton, Ulverston, & Newby Bridge, Windermere, Cumbr —

The Armitt
 

Still raining. Went down to Ambleside, found a park (not a foregone conclusion — the village was packed!) near the Armitt Museum, a place that is actually a little community library, set up to absorb the collections of a number of English gentlemen so they wouldn't vanish as so many collections do. It has been kept up, but now concentrating on works relating to the area. It also houses the collection of the local ramblers' club.

Beatrix Potter puzzles display

But Beatrix Potter left a number of her possessions to them — including her own copies of her own little books! They have mounted an exhibition about her, not only of her children's books, but also of her work as a scientific illustrator, with watercolors of fungi, flowers, bats, pottery, and other exotica. Quite a fascinating little exhibition! This was apparently the first time the museum had opened on a Sunday. They were quite pleased to see us, as they hadn't publicised the opening, just wanting to see what happened. We were the first two through the doors today — but we were by no means the last!

After an hour or so there we went on to Bowness-on-Windermere, where there is 'The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction' — do you start to detect a Beatrix Potter theme here? This time the town was totally parked out, so we decided to try to get there early tomorrow morning instead.

The Main Work Floor

Sharon demonstrating
sorting for packing

We went on, round the bottom of Lake Windermere, to one of English Heritage's six industrial sites — the Stott Park Bobbin Mill. You hear a lot about the textile mills of Lancashire in the industrial revolution — well every mill needed a huge supply of bobbins to wind the thread on. This mill was one that served their need, and is the last one standing! This mill, being smaller, and with more flexible (albeit older) equipment, was able to continue to supply specialty requirements, when the others, tooled for specific products, started to close down as plastics started to eat into their business. Stott Park lasted until 1971, producing a varied range of lathed timber products — in WW2 for example, they were making wooden rungs for rope ladders, and toggles for duffle coats. It started out driven by a water-wheel, then a water turbine, then a steam engine, and now by 3-phase electric power. Since it came into the hands of the English Heritage, little has changed, except for some repair and renovation where it was needed, and the introduction of protective barriers which were never there before. Even the circular saws had no guards before its 1971 closure! We had a fascinating one-hour guided tour, with demonstrations of the various processes. Go through your sewing baskets — if you find a wooden spool, it came from a place like this!

After this, we were dying for an afternoon tea — Stott Park doesn't have an attached cafe. On our way round to it, however, we had noticed a park at the bottom of Lake Windermere — Fell Foot Park and Garden. In spite of the still-threatening weather, we pulled in here for a well-earned coffee and scones afternoon tea (what else?). A relaxing tea break, a short walk round part of the lake before the heavens decided to let go, and then we drove back up near Dove Cottage to overnight where we had a good starting point for tomorrow.

The view from our park

Distance driven — today, 50 miles ( 81 km ); to date, 5,915 miles ( 9,520 km )