Posted by Gordon on September 06, 1998 at 17:56:57:
In Reply to: Where are the lakes of yesteryear? posted by Spencer Hines on September 05, 1998 at 07:00:38:
What a very strange post!
If people really read S&A books TODAY with the sort of attitude expressed by Mr Hines then I for one am delighted that the English Lake District does not "fit the bill".
Even when Ransome was writing it was hardly acceptable to talk about 'traditional residents and farmers' in a patronising manner - and possibly to assume that it was 'charming' to have 'a smallish number of urban families renting'. This is no longer the case, times have moved on and we, who live in the Lakes, are happy to share it with those who wish to visit this marvellous area to refresh their bodies and their souls. There is a symbiosis here between 'local' and 'visitor' that allows the Lake District (unlike some other upland areas) to be conserved as most would wish.
Of course times change and, sadly, parts of the Lakes - dare I mention Windermere - have in S & A terms been over-developed. But if you really want to re-capture that sense of adventure and fun, without being overwhelmed by the exceses of the modern world then there are many places in the Lakes - Coniston Water being one! - where the spirit of things Ransomesque is alive and well.
But, in searching for the this Spirit, we should not IMHO hark back to a harsher age where peasants were peasants and where "urban families" were allowed to dictate the manner in which they should be able to take their pleasures (i.e. camping on Wild Cat Island!).