Boat owners on England’s longest lake say they are mystified and angry after being told they will have to leave an area some have called home for half a century.
Around 40 were contacted via an email they say came as a complete surprise which warned them that 2026 will be the final season when they will be able to use an area known as the boat yard at Fell Foot on Windermere.
The note was sent on behalf of the National Trust, which owns the property.
It says that financial pressures has led the charity to make difficult decisions about the area and that from July no staff will be available to oversee the boat yard.
It also says Active Base, a development jointly funded by the National Trust and Sport England which opened in 2018 and promised changing and refreshment facilities for all water sport enthusiasts, will also no longer be staffed.
“We’re still to hear anything from the National Trust directly – there’s been no consultation, nothing,” Kevin Wilkinson said as he prepared his boat for the season.
“We don’t know what the thinking is behind this and if the trust really understand the impact it will have.”
At the moment owners pay to store their craft on an area of hard standing close to a slipway during the winter.
Now, with summer approaching, many yachts and small boats are returning to moorings on Windermere.
A fee for any trailers left parked in the area is also charged by the National Trust.
Westmorland and Furness Council’s coffers also benefit from the arrangement as mooring fees are due.
The Lake District National Park also gains via the lake boat registration scheme, currently £58 for a new registration.
“This could kill this end of the lake,” Sarah, whose link to Windermere goes back to 1972, said. “I have no issue with progress or measures which reduce risk but this goes against the charity’s own aims to be ‘for everyone forever.’”
Work, so far unspecified, will be carried out on the boat yard to redevelop the offer, according to the note seen by Cumbria Crack.
The news has angered long-standing boater Pauline Wilson.
She estimates she pays the charity around £1,000 a year and says trust staff never mentioned the news when she paid her fees to use the facilities.
This year, she says, could well mark the end of a long-standing link with the lake.
“I’ve been coming here for almost 50 years and there is a community of people who keep the place going – in winter Fell Foot is absolutely dead and the only people who come here are owners maintaining their boats!” Pauline said.
“Active Base will become a white elephant without us. If this goes, there are a whole load of boaters who can’t get access to their moorings and can’t store their boats at Ferry Nab because it is full. We’ll have nowhere to go.”
A walk around the yard shows a number of boats which have not plied the waters of Windermere for a number of years in a poor state of repair.
Those who pay fees and take pride in their craft have welcomed recent moves by National Trust staff to remove them.
But the suggestion that all should go has been condemned as short sighted and at odds with recent statements by the charity.
He said: “I sincerely hope not because it’s about focussing on the things that are really important.
“We do have a very broad remit but we can’t do everything everywhere.”
The National Trust has been invited to discuss the issues raised at Fell Foot.
“Much is said about the need for men to get together to improve their wellbeing and mental health – that’s what some of us are doing here,” Kevin added.
“If somebody said ‘look here are the plans, this is what’s happening’ I could give you a list of things that have been planned over the years and haven’t happened and it’s so sad.
“But to be just suddenly told ‘no, that’s it this is happening’ that’ll be end of membership of the National Trust, as a volunteer and as a tenant.”
Despite the recent fine weather there was a sombre atmosphere as half a dozen boat owners launched their boats onto the still waters of Windermere.
An undercurrent of uncertainty is marring the start of the sailing season.
The National Trust has been approached for comment.
