Windermere Steamboats & Museum is located on a former sand wharf site where, for many years, barges unloaded gravel dredged from the bed of the lake. When this operation ceased in 1975, the Windermere Nautical Trust acquired the use of the site and the Museum was built in 1976-77 with the help of The Maritime Trust and the English Tourist Board. For a great day out visit the Windermere Steamboats & Museum situated on the shores of beautiful Lake Windermere. This Windermere attraction offers a unique and historic collection of Steam and Motor Boats. Steam Launch Trips, Shop and Refreshments. The Museum is open 10am to 5pm daily from mid-March to the first week in November
Web Address:www.windermere-lakecruises.co.uk
The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction can be found in Windermere. The attraction as won a number of awards and is One of the Top Ten most Popular Visitor Centres and the centre is a place for all the family young and old. Within the centre you will discover Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle Duck and all their friends in a magical indoor recreation of Beatrix Potter classic tales, with the sights, sounds and also the smells of the countryside. You will be able to see Mrs. Tiggy-winkle in the Kitchen, go past Jeremy Fisher's Pond and even walk through Squirrel Nutkin's Old Oak Tree? Also at the centre you will be able to learn more about Beatrix Potter's life in the Hidden Beatrix Potter's presentation and video wall. Take a break in the Tailor of Gloucester Tea Rooms and then a visit to shop where you can browse and purchase top quality Beatrix Potter merchandise.
Wray Castle is a National Trust owned family friendly mock-Gothic castle on the shores of Lake Windermere with turrets, towers, informal grounds, and Peter Rabbit adventure.
Visitors can spend an entire day at Wray and it won’t be the traditional National Trust house you may be expecting. There is something here for everyone and it is a good base for a great day out – perhaps linked with a walk down the lakeshore as well. There are also the extensive grounds to explore and there is a café with an amazing view, run by a National Trust tenant food producer.
From mountain-top to Morecambe Bay the award-winning Aquarium of the Lakes takes you on an amazing voyage of discovery. More than 30 spectacular, naturally-themed habitats bring the natural history of the Lake District vividly to life. Enjoy close encounters with hundreds of amazing creatures including trout, eels, pike, perch, giant crabs, rays and many more. Come face to face with playful otters in their riverbank home, discover the mysterious life of a river after dark and take a closer look at Lakeland life in AquaQuest's educational activity centre. Then enjoy the ultimate underwater thrill as you stroll along a recreated section of Windermere's lake-bed surrounded by surrounded by gigantic carp and the amazing diving ducks.
A working mill built in 1835, Stott Park created the wooden bobbins vital to the spinning and weaving industries of Lancashire. Typical of mills across Cumbria, today you can see industry from a bygone age and watch as bobbins are made using the mill's original machinery. Although Stott Park worked continuously until 1971, it remains almost identical to its Victorian appearance of 100 years ago. With its Victorian machinery originally powered by a waterwheel and steam engine, Stott Park used birch, ash and sycamore to make wooden tool handles as well as bobbins. The mass of belts which fill the building still drive the cutting, boring and finishing machines than turn long thin poles into bobbins. You can watch a bobbin being made, and take it home as a souvenir.
Cumbria has many great sports clubs and Keswick Golf Club is no exception. Located 4 miles East of Keswick on Derwentwater in the heart of the Lake District, the golf course is easily approached from the A66 at Threlkeld - the main route from Penrith to the West Coast. The golf club is renowned for its outstanding Lakeland views and superb facilities. Sitting on Threlkeld Common the course has scenic panoramic views of Blencathra - one of England's highest mountains - Skiddaw, Clough Head and other North Lakeland fells.
About a mile out of Dalton-in-Furness is the Lake District's only zoological park, which is recognised as one of Europe's leading conservation zoos. 17 acres are home to the rarest animals on earth, who are participants in co-ordinated breeding programmes to save them from extinction in the wild. This is the only zoo in Britain to hold both Amur (above) and Sumatran Tigers, the biggest and smallest tigers left in the world. Each day David Gill or one of his assistants gives a talk on the conservation projects for the few remaining tigers left in the world. The zoo now holds all six South American Margays (left) that are in this country. The zoo plays an important role as co-ordinator for the Geoffroys Cat European Endangered Species Programme, and the Lar Gibbon European Studbook.