Bowness
Bowness is an ancient town, dating back to Roman times, but it became a more prominent settlement with the arrival of the Vikings some 500 years after the Romans had left this pretty corner of England. It was the Vikings who were responsible for naming the lake upon whose shores Bowness stands; Vinandr's Mere was named after one of the Norse settlers, and over the centuries this has evolved to become Windermere. Similarly, the name 'Bowness' has its origins in the Norse name Bull Ness.
Bowness remained a small settlement until the Lake District became a popular tourist
destination, a result of interest generated by the Lake Poets,
particularly William Wordsorth. The arrival of the railway in the
adjoining village of Windermere in 1847 brought more and more
tourists, and a new industry was formed. Today's Bowness is a bustling and thriving holiday
town, a largely Victorian creation, offering hundreds of shops and a seemingly endless choice
of accommodation for all budgets. Some of the older Bowness does still exist, and the narrow
streets clustered behind St. Martin's parish church have buildings over 300 years old.
The promenade along the shores of Windermere heaves with tourists in the summer months, and boating is a popular activity among the visitors; Bowness is a major boating centre, and rowboats and motorboats are available for hire at the piers, with more outlets at the Glebe Road Marina, a little further around the bay to the south of the promenade. There is a chain-guided ferry service which carries cars and their passengers from Ferry Nab to Ferry House, Sawrey on the opposite shore. For pedestrians, the launch service operates between Bowness piers and Ferry House, Sawrey.
Popular attractions in Bowness include the World of Beatrix Potter (especially popular with younger visitors) and the Windermere Steamboat Museum, which displays a variety of water-craft, including Victorian and Edwardian steam launches, in its wet and dry docks. Bowness also offers horse-riding, mountain-biking, ballooning and paragliding, to name but a few!