CONISTON

View from Brantwood of Old Man Coniston and the lake

Up until 1859 Coniston was a very rural community, however in that year with the reopening of the copper mines the community settled mainly around Coniston Hall, a 16^th century farmhouse, famous for its large chimneys. The house is still standing and is now owned by the National Trust. Coniston’s best feature is The Old Man of Coniston, rising dramatically behind the houses when seen from the village centre. Coniston is renowned as a centre for walkers and climbers.

John Ruskin settled in the area. He lived for the last 30 years of his life at Brantwood. The house has the most magnificent view and gardens. When he died, he was buried in St Andrew's graveyard, and his grave was marked with a large carved cross, with symbols depicting important aspects of Ruskin's work and life, and made from green slate from a local quarry. A year after his death, W.G. Collingwood started working to establish an exhibition to preserve any Ruskin mementos that could be found, this is now the Ruskin Museum.

The Ruskin museum also boasts a fine collection of Sir Donald Campbell memorabilia. Donald Campbell broke the water speed record on Coniston Water in 1955, and was killed attempting to regain it again in 1967. In March 2001, Bluebird was raised from the bed of Coniston Water, and on 28 May the remains of what was later proved to be Campbell's body were brought from the lake. He is now buried in the churchyard.

More information, and a replica of Bluebird, can be seen at the Lakeland Motor Museum , at Holker Hall.

Coniston Launch

Two launch services ferry the public on Coniston, Coniston Launch , and the National Trust's Steam Yacht Gondola . Both of these call at Brantwood.

The Gondola, which is the oldest steam yacht in the North of England was built in 1859 by the Furness Railway Company as an attraction for the tourists they brought by train to Coniston. She was retired in 1936, and abandoned in the 1960's. In the mid 1970's a group of National Trust enthusiasts raised enough money to restore her.

Steam Yacht Gondola

The restored yacht was relaunched on 25th March 1980, and after a break of 44 years re-entered public service on Coniston Water, Cumbria's third largest lake. The trip round the lake starts at Coniston Pier, proceeding anti-clockwise past Coniston Hall (a working farm owned by the National Trust) to Park-a-Moor (without stopping here). The journey then proceeds northwards, stopping at Brantwood. The yacht then travels the short distance across the lake back to Coniston Pier.

Gondola gave Arthur Ransome the idea for Captain Flint's houseboat in his children's book Swallows and Amazons, although this was eventually modelled on Esperance (now at Windermere Steamboat Museum ).

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