The National Trust’s Fell Foot Park is at the southern end of Windermere in Lakeland. I am sure that many members know England’s largest lake even better than I do, although it is my home water, but there must be others who have not yet discovered it. This report is for them.

River Leven

One of the pleasantest ‘voyages’ you can undertake is down the River Leven, which flows out of the southern end of the lake, not more than 200 yards from Fell Foot. It is about 30 yards wide, shallow in places, and lined with trees. Sailing is not possible except with a following wind, but I have made the trip under oars several times. Though you meet an occasional motorboat, there are not enough of them to be inconvenient, except on Sundays at midsummer. At Newby Bridge, about a mile downstream, you can tie up alongside the terrace of The Swan Hotel and partake of what you fancy. Immediately below this, navigation is blocked by a weir.

The best feature of the Leven for real cruising people is an anchorage about 200 yards downstream from the foot of the Lake, where the River flows through an S-bend. If you tuck in close (but not too close when birds are nesting) to the reed bed which lines the north bank in the downstream curve of the S, you will be well sheltered from wind and current, in totally rural surroundings. Do not worry about the railway that runs close by! It is merely a tourist attraction with only one train per hour during the day and none at night. I must admit that, being a daysailer, I have not spent a night in this anchorage, and I cannot guarantee that you will not be bitten by midges after dark in calm weather in high summer. A dram of whisky is probably the most effective antidote, as the little beasties do not like their meal of blood to be tainted by alcohol.

Advantages of Fell Foot

As there are several places around the Lake where you can launch without too much trouble, I think that the most interesting way of describing Fell Foot will be to compare its advantages and disadvantages with the best of the rest.

The greatest advantage is that access by road is excellent. From junction 36 of M6, A590 takes you to Newby Bridge, where you turn right at a roundabout on to A592. The gates of the park are a mile further on. This is the only route to Windermere which is entirely on ‘A’ roads and which does not pass through any town where traffic is likely to be congested in the tourist season. Do not underestimate the importance of this! Our countryside is beautiful because it is liberally sprinkled with knobbly bits, which are the delight of poets and painters but the curse of road-builders. Most of our roads, even some ‘A’ roads, are narrow and winding and undulating. This would not matter too much if the traffic were light, but it can be tiresome when schools are on holiday. Because many visiting motorists are afraid of the lack of width, they drive in the middle of the road, with the result that meeting them on a blind bend is unnerving, particularly if they are leading a queue and your ability to reverse is compromised by a trailer.

As well as a slipway and a boat park, the Trust provides jetty space for mooring, which could be a boon for anyone who sleeps aboard. Assuming that you arrive by road before 7.00 pm (when the gates are locked) but with enough time to launch before sundown, you can spend the first night alongside before setting sail in the morning. The charge for mooring is £15 for 24 hours, including parking for one car with trailer for the same period. If this charge does not deter you, I recommend booking in advance, because space is limited. In addition to the jetties mentioned above, there is another beside the slipway where you can moor temporarily while parking your car and trailer.

For daysailers who, like me, are too lazy to make their own picnics, the Trust provides a tea room with a reasonable standard of catering. Unfortunately it is open only between 11.00 am and 5.00 pm, and not at all in the winter, when two hotels at Newby Bridge (a mile away) are the nearest by road. The Lakeside Hotel is even closer if you cross the Lake in your own boat.

Disadvantages of Fell Foot

For daysailers, the most serious disadvantage is that Fell Foot is several miles from the most interesting part of the lake, the southern end of which is straight and narrow, almost like a broad river. This will not matter to real cruising people, who doubtless like to get a few miles under the keel before seeking an anchorage.

The slipway, situated immediately north of the South Windermere Sailing Club, is made of concrete and is about 10 ft wide. Though it is quite satisfactory, it is not really steep enough for owners who like to immerse their trailers and haul the boat out using a winch. If, on the other hand, you haul out manually on a trolley, the situation is not much better. The underwater part of the slipway is reasonably flat, but the concrete becomes a lot steeper just above the water. When my wife and I are hauling out our 15 ft boat unaided, we need a winch anyway. The situation is not helped by the fact that landward access to the slipway is rather narrow for about 25 yards, as it is lined with parked boats. This affords a nice test of your ability to reverse your car with a trailer.

Access to the rigging area from the gates is by tarmac drive, which is steep, but the approved procedure is to tow your trailer down to the rigging area by car. In my experience this is trouble free, which is why I didn’t bother to mention it. Having delivered your trailer to the rigging area, you should remove your car to the car park. The only problem about this is that some people do not do it, and the rigging area can become congested, but it’s not too bad really.

The Lake Warden has laid too many moorings close to the jetty, and one or two of them are very close. Given the fact that other sailors like to tie up at the end of the jetty, rather than nearer the shore where the water is shallower, it can be almost impossible to come alongside under sail, particularly as nearby trees make the wind uncertain. We prefer to anchor off and lower sail before making the final approach under oars.

In my view the charges at Fell Foot are a bit steep, and it must be said that the National Trust has acquired a reputation in Lakeland for liking to make money. In 2000 the prices are: Launching of open boat up to 15 ft long £9.50 per day Launching of open boat 15 ft to 20 ft long £15.75 per day Open boat kept in boat park, inc. daily launching £50.00 per week

The above prices include parking for one car and trailer for the relevant period. Any engine fitted to the boat must not be more powerful than 5 hp.

Fell Foot is not one of the places where the Trust has a campsite or cottages available for rent, and the caravan site marked on the chart above does not exist. I give the address of the Tourist Board, which can provide suitable lists of accommodation.

The Byelaws

I think I should finish with some general comments about sailing on the lake, the use of which is governed by no fewer than three sets of byelaws. These are rigorously enforced by the Lake Warden, the National Park Ranger and the police, all of whom have their own boats for pursuing transgressors. It would be foolish to go afloat without first studying the byelaws, copies of which can be obtained from the Lake Warden’s office. Incidentally, I have always found the Lake Warden and his staff to be friendly and helpful, so there is something gained from the over-regulation of our leisure.

The byelaws governing navigation are similar to the international colregs, but with important differences. Chief of these is that our local legislators have not fallen into the curious error of imagining that a pair of oars can fairly be classed as machinery. If when under sail you meet a rowing-boat, you must cede the right of passage. Though confusing to those used to sailing on the sea, this is really quite sensible, because 90% of people in rowing-boats have hired them by the hour. Many have never been in a boat before, and almost none has the least suspicion that in some circumstances it is necessary to give way. Come to think of it, whenever I am sailing on the sea and I encounter a typical yacht’s tender under oars (particularly but not exclusively if it is an inflatable) I keep well clear, knowing that I am far more in control of my boat than he is of his. Some of the worst moments of my life have occurred when I was rowing an inflatable in strong winds.

It is an offence against the byelaws to discharge human excrement into the lake. Bucket-and-chuck-it is illegal. Some years ago, when Ann and I had a cruising-yacht, we fitted a chemical toilet, but there is no room for such a contraption in a dinghy. The result is that people’s voyages follow well-worn furrows from one public convenience to the next. The Lake Warden can provide a chart showing, among many other things, the positions of these sanctuaries. This is vital information.

Speed Limits

The byelaws designate three parts of the lake where, because of a danger of congestion, there is a speed-limit of 6 mph (land miles). The representatives of authority, in their speed-boats, need to be able to recognise law-breakers, and for this reason every boat which uses an engine must be registered with the National Park Authority, for which the Lake Warden collects the fees. The cost is not prohibitive (£5 per year or part thereof, if your engine is less than 5 hp) but displaying your registration number can be difficult, because the two number plates are each about 1 ft by 2 ft 6 in. As I refuse to spoil my beautiful hull by sticking the numbers directly to it in the approved manner, I have fixed them to two sheets of plywood which I tie to the shrouds and gunwales, but I am not sure if this is legal.

The Secretary of State for the Environment has recently imposed a 10 mph speed-limit over the whole of the rest of the lake. When this comes into effect in 2005 it will kill the sport of water-skiing, because every other lake in Cumbria already has a speed-limit. If you want to visit before then but fear being harassed by mobs of louts in wet-suits, let me reassure you. I have never had any trouble from the speedsters. I regard the new speed-limit as a totally unnecessary attack on people’s freedom.

Windermere is Not Ruined

You may question the need for such rampant bureaucracy, which arises from a state of mind demonstrated by a member of the National Park Authority, who declared some years ago that Windermere was already ruined. What he meant was that there were too many boats causing ripples which broke up the reflections of the fells in the water!

The National Trust’s Fell Foot Park is at the southern end of Windermere. I recalled his words to my crew when we were enjoying a peaceful sail in the middle of last August, and we agreed that our surroundings were idyllic. Admittedly it was a weekday, but it was also at the height of the holiday-season. We searched in vain for a sign of ruin.

Useful Addresses

National Trust, Fell Foot Park, Newby Bridge, ULVERSTON, LAI2 8NN 01539 531273

Lake Warden, Ferry Nab, Bowness, WINDERMERE, LA23 3JH 01539 442753

Cumbria Tourist Board, Ashleigh, Holly Road, WINDERMERE, 01539 444444