Out & Around Windermere

Buried deep in a wooded valley of the Lake District, Stott Park is one of the few remaining examples of a type of mill once common in Lakeland. The bobbin mills drew on the natural resources which the area had in abundance - fast-flowing streams for power, and woodland - to produce in huge quantities the bobbins that were essential to the highly mechanised spinning mills of the Lancashire cotton industry

		Stott Park Bobbin Mill VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Near to the Lake District in Cumbria, this extensive working mill was begun in 1835 to produce the wooden bobbins vital to the Lancashire spinning and weaving industries.
Although small compared to other mills, some 250 men and boys (some drafted in from workhouses) worked here over the years in often arduous conditions to produce a quarter of a million bobbins a week.
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By far the most interesting visit of the week, a superb and detailed guided tour brought the past to life

 

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Graythwaite Hall Gardens deftly illustrate the genius of Thomas Mawson. Commisioned in 1896 he was instructed to utilise the existing contours and landscape to make a garden combining the formal and informal.

It is essentially a Spring garden settled in a wooded valley of twelve acres exhibiting an extensive collection of rhododendrons and azaleas. It is much as Mawson finished it although the modern era now offers a greater selection of hybrids and species.

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		Graythwaite Gardens VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The Dutch Garden and Rose Garden are typical of the period and visitors can explore the paths through lawns and woodland to gain contrasting views of their surroundings. Towering above are some impressive trees, now giants sheltering smaller ornamentals and the Dogs cemetary and arboretum are havens of peace

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IMG_0267-HDR, a photo by bfurphy on Flickr.