Its history is shaped by two rivers: the fast-flowing river Kent and the smaller river Gowan. The bustling village nestles at the foot of the secluded Kentmere Valley. Staveley is a pretty village, surrounded by rolling countryside interspersed with valleys, woods and drystone walls. Surrounding Windermere are the beautiful villages of: Staveley Set close enough to the M6 motorway being less than 20 miles away and the gateway to the Southern Lakes, Windermere is well placed to take advantage of the breathtaking scenery, lakes, mountains and all the activities which this beautiful landscape can offer. There is of course a wealth of restaurants, shops and hotels to cater for everyone’s needs and every budget. The village manages to retain many aspects for a community – schools, banks, petrol stations, supermarkets and post offices are all close by. Together with the moving of the Lancashire boarder in 1973 Cumberland and Westmorland became Cumbria and our local South Lakeland District Council was formed. Moving forward to more recent times, the Lake District was designated a national park in 1949, and more recently the county of Westmorland was forever removed from the map. In 1869 the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway was built and linked to ferry services from Lakeside, cementing Bowness’s position as a fashionable day trip resort. A host of hotels, villas and boarding houses rapidly sprang up to accommodate the tourists, all vying for a view of the lake. With the extension of the railway to Windermere and regular influxes of Victorian visitors, the commercial opportunities were soon realised. Up to the 19th century, Bowness-on-Windermere was a fishing village. Horse-drawn carriages were laid on to ferry passengers to and from the station to the lakeside, whilst hotel-based charabancs (early motor coaches) took guests on local sightseeing excursions. The railway terminated at Windermere to avoid the steep descent to the lakeside at Bowness and proved to be highly lucrative, bringing in 120,000 visitors in its first year, mainly from the industrial towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire. Windermere, originally a small hamlet called Birthwaite, came to prominence with the completion of the railway link from Kendal in 1847.
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