The Windermere Ferry is a vehicular

cable ferry A cable ferry (including the types chain ferry, swing ferry, floating bridge, or punt) is a ferry that is guided (and in many cases propelled) across a river or large body of water by cables connected to both shores. Early cable ferries often ...

which crosses

Windermere Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the List of lakes and lochs of the United Ki ...

, the largest lake in England and located within English

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

. The ferry route forms part of the B5285 road and crosses the lake at about its midpoint, from Ferry Nab in

Bowness-on-Windermere Bowness-on-Windermere is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Windermere and Bowness, in the Westmorland and Furness district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. It lies next to Lake Windermere and the town of Wind ...

to Ferry House at Far Sawrey, a distance of some . The ferry is owned and operated by

Westmorland and Furness Council Westmorland and Furness Council is the Local government in England, local authority for Westmorland and Furness, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. It is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority, b ...

. The ferry operates all year, with services every 20 minutes from early morning to mid-evening. Each crossing can carry up to 18 cars and over 100 passengers and takes less than 10 minutes. A

toll Toll may refer to: Transportation * Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway ** Toll road, a type of road which for which payment is required for passage ** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use ** Road to ...

is charged. If the ferry is not operating, the alternative is a road journey of approximately around either the head or foot of the lake. The historic county boundary between

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was Historic counties of England, historically a county. People of the area ...

runs down the western shore of the lake and also along about three miles (5 km) of the southern section of the eastern shore. Anyone crossing the lake from east to west on the Windermere Ferry thus travels from the historic county of Westmorland to that of Lancashire.

History

There has been a ferry at the site of the current Windermere Ferry for more than 500 years, with the earliest craft being rowed across the lake. During this period there was one recorded disaster, in 1635, when the ferry capsized and forty-seven people perished. The first cable ferry, powered by steam, commenced operation in 1870. New ferry boats were introduced to the route in 1915 and 1954, when a boat named ''Drake'' was introduced. The current ferry boat, named ''Mallard'', was built in 1990 and can carry up to 18 cars and over 100 passengers. The ferry underwent its most recent five-yearly refit and full inspection in March 2019. The previous refit in 2014 cost £300,000 and involved rebuilding the engines and servicing all hydraulic, mechanical and electrical systems on the ferry, together with a full repaint. On 26 May 2018, the ''Mallard'' suffered an engine room fire which disabled the ferry during a crossing. One of the local cruise boats provided emergency assistance and took the passengers on board. Whilst the ferry was out of action, Cumbria County Council arranged for

Windermere Lake Cruises Windermere Lake Cruises is a boat company which provides leisure trips on Windermere in the central part of the English Lake District. It is based in Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria. History Windermere is the largest natural lake in England, ...

to continue a reduced pedestrian crossing over the lake. The ''Mallard'' returned to service on 27 October after having been repaired and fitted with a new engine.

References

External links

*
Westmorland & Furness Council web page on the ferry

Webcam of western terminal

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