Windermere Jetty Museum of Boats Steam and Stories in the Lake District celebrates turning one on Monday 23 March with a series of events running across the weekend of 21-22 March 2020.
The newest and most spectacular attraction to be built in the UNESCO World Heritage Site is shining a spotlight on exceptional boat design, and the spirit of outdoor adventure captured in Arthur Ransome’s children’s book Swallows and Amazons. There will be a brand new interactive exhibition, heritage boats galore, special talks and the chance to see restored heritage boat Penelope II taking to the water for the first time.
A highlight of the birthday weekend will be the unusual opportunity to see Penelope II, a 1930’s motor launch returned to full glory. Come along on Saturday 21 March to watch this landmark milestone and see how the boat reacts to being introduced to the lake. This is the first stage in the sea-trials for the heritage boat which was built by Borwicks of Bowness for a local family. They used the boat mainly to follow the Royal Windermere Yacht Club races. The plan is to launch Penelope for public cruises later in the year, allowing a new boat to start its exciting conservation journey in the workshop.
In the Museum visitors can explore the new Swallows and Amazons For Ever! exhibition featuring a recreation of Arthur Ransome’s study complete with original manuscript and desk. There’s the chance to type your own story and rediscover Ransome’s iconic children’s books through a specially commissioned animated film by Lou Kneath, a Cumbria based Character Animator who trained with Pixar animation directors and is Founder/Director of +3K animation production company.
The £20million Windermere Jetty Windermere has been recognised with a raft of accolades since opening, scooping a major award at the 2020 Civic Trust Awards, winning Design of the Year 2019, the biggest prize at the prestigious Architects Journal Architecture Awards as well as being named Cultural Project of the Year for its remarkable design by Carmody Groarke, described as ‘exceptionally impressive’ by the judging panel. The custom-built conservation workshop and the outstanding work done by the team of conservation boat builders was acknowledged by National Historic Ships with the Martyn Heighton Award for Conservation 2019.
Alongside Awards it has received glowing recommendations and features from national lifestyle, architecture and travel media including Daily Telegraph’s ‘50 amazing UK adventures for 2019’, the Sunday Times Travel Magazine as a ‘must-visit’ attraction, the Guardian Culture’s ‘Top Ten architectural gems’, Financial Times, Blueprint and Architecture Today amongst many others.
There’s so much to discover at this surprising venue whatever your interests. There is free parking for everyone visiting the museum and café and across the birthday weekend family tickets will be discounted to £15 when booked online in advance. With breathtaking panoramic views onto the lake, the café offers Lakeland recipes with a contemporary twist. It is accessible, dog friendly and family friendly with a children’s menu and plenty of highchairs for small ones. For further information please visit www.windermerejetty.org
Rhian Harris, Chief Executive Lakeland Arts says; “It’s been a fantastic first year. And it only seems like yesterday that we were throwing open our doors to visitors for the very first time. It’s been great to win several industry awards for architecture of the museum and our conservation work. But it’s been equally rewarding to get important feedback from our visitors to help us improve and shape Windermere Jetty going forward.
“We launched a schools programme last summer and the museum really comes alive when young people are exploring and finding out about boating history and the ecology of our environment on the shores of Windermere.
“We have lots of amazing things planned for this year and beyond. We think families are going to love our forthcoming Swallows and Amazons season with an exhibition and programme of activities. And we can’t wait to welcome BBC Antiques Roadshow in June.”
Senior Conservation Boat Builder Stephen Beresford said: “Windermere Jetty really is a special museum. Visitors love to hear about a boat’s journey from workshop to water. People see live conservation and then take a trip on a 1902 steam launch called Osprey which is evocative of the Victorian era. A big part of what we do is meet visitors and explain the conservation work on the boats and bring our collection to life.
“A stand-out moment was the museum winning the National Historic Ships UK Martyn Heighton Award for excellence in maritime conservation. This reflects on the seven years hard work to get the boat collection ready to exhibit and recognises the highly skilled team we have here.”
