Memories Of Ambleside And The Lakes

A Memory of Ambleside.

We as a family first stayed at Rothay Manor in Ambleside in 1953 and it was then that I had my first experiences in fell walking, trout fishing and negotiating the nearby "Stepping Stones" across the river Rothay.
Climbing proper was out of the question, a sport reserved for those qualified in this hazardous pastime.
I was present in the Lake District on 23rd July 1955 when Donald Campbell broke the world water speed record on Lake Ullswater.
I caught my first brown trout when fishing leaning over a dry stone wall on the river Rothay behind the hotel.
I returned to the Lakes and Ambleside in 1985, bed & breakfasts now, with my 14 years old son Matthew when we were getting over the shock of him having developed diabetes, using the trip to test our capabilities.
This was when we got the taste for climbing and on this occasion and in following annual short breaks reached the summits of the highest and most famous peaks in the area including Helvellyn and Scafell Pike.
We would set out in the morning having purchased our sandwiches from a small shop in Ambleside Square and of course the regulation "Mint Cake" for emergency use only (Mine all gone within an hour).
We hired fishing rods and caught nothing, but both later claimed to have hooked and lost the largest trout ever seen.
Walking is good physically and provides time to relax and talk over many subjects that may never otherwise be voiced,
I hope to return one day but nothing can replace those early years, perhaps its best left as a memory, sad but true.
John Russell
1st June 2016