Windermere Air show

On Sunday I took the kids to the Windermere Air Show. We arrived at about 11.00am and the place was already packed with thousands of people, the airs how didn’t start till 12.30. We walked to the show field where there was exhibitions and info centres for the RAF, Army and Navy. The kids enjoyed going round the displays and getting free stickers and info packs from the armed services. My daughter is interested in joining the Air Training Corps, so she got lots of info about Kendal 1127 Squadron.

The first display was by the Breitling Wing Walkers in their 1940’s biplanes. This was a fantastic display as the girls did their acrobatics on top of the planes, flying at no more than 200feet above the Lake. Next up was the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. This was meant to be a Spitfire, Hurricane and Dakota, unfortunately only the Spitfire managed to do it’s display as the Hurricane and Dakota had broken down at Carlisle Airport. It was still a fantastic display by the Spitfire. The Red Arrows were supposed to do a fly past but did not show before the Grand Finale of the RAF Falcons Parachute display team flying in.

A superb day by the lake watching the air display’s by some of the best in the business.

A Day in the Lakes

I took the Kids for a day out in the Lakes. We started of by heading into Windermere before heading over the Kirkstone Pass. It wasn’t raining at this point and the views back towards Ambleside and the head of Lake Windermere from the Red Screes are fantastic. Continuing on over the pass towards Patterdale and Glenridding you come across the little known tarn Brotherswater which holds a good head of wild brown trout. This water is free to fish all you need is an Environment Agency Rod Licence. As I was with the kids and it was starting to rain, I was unable to get a cast on this lovely looking water. There is a campsite only 100yds from the water, so an overnighter or two is being planned as I write.
We continued on up to Ullswater and then onto the A66 towards Keswick. We were going to go to Castlerigg Stone Circle but the rain was torrential by this point. The stone circle is one of these Pre-historic monuments that were erected thousands of years ago and the meaning of which is long lost. We continued on back down the A591 towards Windermere.
On the way we passed Thirlmere. This water was formed when two smaller lakes were joined and the Old Village of Whytburn was demolished and the valley dammed and flooded, to create a reservoir which to this day still supplies water to Manchester over 80 miles away. The water here was very low, mainly due to the unseasonally long dry spell we have had since April. It was so low you could have walked alont the paths and roads leading to the old village and the islands that were formed at the time of the flooding were no longer islands. The rain had stopped by this point and there was blue sky and sunshine. Continuing on over Dunmail Raise past Grasmere village (Wordsworth’s grave is in the church yard) and then back through Ambleside and onto Windermere and back to Kendal.
A superb day out despite the weather doing it’s best to spoil it.