button to main menu  Otley's Guide 1823 (5th edn 1834)

button title page
button previous page button next page
Page 3:-
is about a mile, and depth nearly forty fathoms. A strait, near the middle of the lake, has a public ferry-boat, on the way between Kendal and Hawkshead.
  islands
  sailing

The numerous islands, with which it is enriched, are chiefly grouped near the middle of the lake; so as to admit greater scope for the exercise of sailing. The principal, called Belle-Isle - from the late Mrs. Curwen who purchased it into the family - is a beautiful plot of thirty acres, surmounted by a stately mansion, and encircled by a gravel walk of nearly two miles, which strangers are freely permitted to perambulate. Besides this, are Crow-Holm, two Lily of the Valley-Holms, Thompson's-Holm, House-Holm, Hen-Holm, Lady-Holm, and Rough-Holm; and to the south of the Ferry, Berkshire-Island, Ling-Holm, Grass-Holm, Silver-Holm, and Blake-Holm.
  fish
Windermere is stocked with a variety of fish, of which char are the most esteemed. Char being taken by nets in the winter months, are potted, and sent to different parts of the kingdom. The principal feeders of the lake are the Rothay, having its source in Grasmere; and the Brathay, issuing from Langdale. These two rivers unite their streams about half a mile before entering the lake; and a remarkable circumstance is, that the trout and char, both leaving the lake about the same time to deposit their spawn, separate themselves into the two different rivers; the trout making choice of the Rothay, and the char the Brathay.
gazetteer links
button -- "Belle Isle" -- Belle Isle
button -- Brathay, River
button -- Rothay, River
button -- (Windermere Ferry, Windermere)
button -- "Windermere Water" -- Windermere
button next page

button to main menu Lakes Guides menu.