William Wordsworth once said that the best way to view the mountains of England’s Lake District was from the surface of one of the lakes. Three of the sixteen lakes have large passenger boats cruising on them, so that view is still easily available to visitors.
When the railway first arrived at Windermere, there was already such a boat cruising on the lake of the same name … although it was some distance from the railway station. The railway actually terminated at a village called Birthwaite, but the railway company named the station after the lake, to attract the customers, and the village was soon re-named after the station.
The boat was a paddle steamer called the Lady of the Lake. When it was withdrawn, the tradition began of naming the boats after birds; Swan and Teal, Swift, Tern, Raven and Cygnet.
Two designs were popular. One was a long, slender, flush-decked design, such as the Swift, which was broken up several years ago. This boat was built in 1900 and transported to Lakeside in segments, for assembly on the lake.
An example of the other design is still in service. The Tern was built in 1891 and, again, brought to the lake for assembly in kit form. It’s about the same length and beam, but with a canoe-type bow and stern. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy during World War II as HM Training Ship Undine. She didn’t go to sea, but remained on Windermere for mine-laying training, doubling as a patrol vessel, guarding Short’s flying-boat factory at White Cross Bay, just north of Bowness.
Originally steam-driven, she was re-engined with diesels in 1956.Some people missed the sight of Tern fussing busily down the lake, usually trailing black smoke from her funnel. The majority, however, welcomed the new engines. Under steam, Tern tended to cough gobbets of soot from the funnel, to the consternation of the passengers on the open deck.
Many passengers preferred to wait for the new diesel boats, Swan and Teal, which came into service in the late 1930s. These fine boats were regarded as the epitome of modernity. White, stately and above all, clean, their style recalls a contemporary art-deco poster. If a local school child of the time, who seldom saw the sea, was asked to draw a luxury liner, the result usually resembled Swan or Teal.
Sadly, an unsympathetic modernisation of these two boats has, in my opinion, almost completely disguised their original beautiful lines. Tern fared better. The awning covering the previously open deck is in keeping, and the new wooden wheelhouse on the foredeck (originally, the helmsman stood in the open, just forward of the funnel) blends into the background quite well. Sailing on Windermere in the fleet’s oldest vessel is still a step into yesterday.
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