{"id":1482,"date":"2016-08-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-15T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelovers.cottage-search.com\/blog\/swallows-amazons-lake-district\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T16:07:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T16:07:16","slug":"swallows-amazons-lake-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/swallows-amazons-lake-district\/","title":{"rendered":"Swallows and Amazons in the Lake District"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Places to Visit in the Lake District this Summer Inspired by Swallows and Amazons<\/h2>\n

\"swallows<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most kids have read the books and act out the adventures and as adults we never forget the Swallows and Amazons series we read in our childhood years, the way they sparked the imagination for amazing adventures \u2013 wild camping, sailing to unknown lands and conquering mountains.<\/p>\n

Arthur Ransome\u2019s books have captured the minds of children since he first penned them in 1929.<\/p>\n

What child doesn\u2019t want to be an explorer? And, since Ransome based some of his books on the Lake District \u2013 where he lived \u2013 there are so many places to visit in the Lake District to follow in the footsteps of the Walker and Blackett children.<\/p>\n

The first book, Swallows and Amazons<\/em>, and four sequels \u2013 Swallodale, Winter Holiday, Pigeon Post and The Picts and Martyrs are set in a fictional place, but believed to be the Lake District.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s thought that Wild Cat Island could be Peel Island on Coniston Water and Kanchenjunga is probably the Old Man of Coniston, with the Peak of Darien being Friar\u2019s Crag on Derwent Water.<\/p>\n

\"The twelve children\u2019s adventure books tell the story of the Walker children, who sail on a dingy named the Swallow and decide that they are explorers. While the Blackett children, who sail on dingy called the Amazon, declare themselves pirates.\u00a0After meeting on the lake, the children have a series of school holiday adventures in inter-war rural England.<\/p>\n

Swallows and Amazons \u2013 The film<\/h3>\n

Swallows and Amazons has now been made into a film ( a retake of the 1974 film) and last week, the red carpet was rolled out at Keswick\u2019s Theatre By The Lake, as actors from the new screen adaptation arrived for the world premiere of the film, which will be released on August 19.<\/p>\n

It tells Ransome\u2019s tale of the two families of children and the latest adaptation also takes influence from Ransome\u2019s real-life role in MI6, which was uncovered a few years ago.<\/p>\n

Filming for the much-awaited movie was shot around Derwentwater and Coniston and features 13-year-old Burneside schoolgirl Hannah Jayne Thorp, who plays Peggy Blackett.<\/p>\n

Real Life Swallows and Amazons<\/h3>\n

The Lake District is without a doubt a great place for children to have fun and use their imagination for wild adventures, just like the Walker and Blackett kids. So, what about these Lake District children activities.<\/p>\n

Sail a Boat at Fell Foot Park at Windermere<\/h3>\n

The little ones can explore Windermere lake by hiring rowing boats at Fell Foot Park, right on the shores of the water. Row out towards the islands or meander down the River Leven and if you time it right, you\u2019ll see a steam engine pass by. A real adventure on the water awaits.<\/p>\n

Step on board a steam yacht at Coniston Water<\/h3>\n

Get aboard a \u2018houseboat\u2019 and explore Coniston Water \u2013 the place which inspired Arthur Ransome to write his stories. Maybe you\u2019ll be able to spot Wild Cat Island while you chug away across the water which has breathtaking scenery of Coniston Old Man, which is thought to be Kanchenjunga.<\/p>\n

Have wild adventures at Wray Castle<\/h3>\n

The kids will love roaming around a real castle, where they can dress up as kings and queens, climb high in the trees and even do raft-building.<\/p>\n

And, their imaginations will soar with the new secret tree house in the woods! Plus, it\u2019s right on the water\u2019s edge too.<\/p>\n

Woodland adventures in search of a waterfall at Aira Force<\/h3>\n

Make your way through beautiful , leafy woodland to find Aira Force. Stroll over the bridge and let the children\u2019s imaginations of secret caves run wild. And, since it\u2019s only a short stroll from the shores of Ullswater, there\u2019s a day full of Swallows and Amazons adventures to be had.<\/p>\n

\"Aira<\/p>\n

Ghyll Scrambling in Keswick<\/h3>\n

Follow one of many streams, becks and gorges by ghyll scrambling at the Keswick Adventure Centre. They call it \u2018caving with the roof off\u2019 and with many waterfalls to climb, there\u2019s a thrilling, wild adventure for the family.<\/p>\n

Find out more about the famed author in Kendal<\/h3>\n

The Arthur Ransome Society is based at the Museum of Lakeland Life in Kendal. At the museum you will find the Arthur Ransome room, where his desk, typewriter, pipes, books and general memorabilia are kept. A great way to find out more about the famed author.<\/p>\n

A bit about Arthur Ransome<\/h3>\n

Arthur Ransome was born in Leeds but the family often travelled to Coniston Water for holidays and that\u2019s where he grew to love the water.\u00a0He went onto become a keen sailor and it is believed he first learned to sail on Coniston<\/a> when he was at school in Windermere.\u00a0Together with his wife Eugenia, he lived in the Winster Valley and Haverthwaite, where he wrote many of his books.\u00a0He died in 1967 and is buried in Rusland churchyard in the south lakes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Find places to visit in the Lake District this summer inspired by the book Swallows and Amazons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":1483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1482"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9260,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1482\/revisions\/9260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}