Posted by Forrest Brownell on September 07, 1998 at 14:33:15:
In Reply to: Re: Where are the lakes of yesteryear? posted by Gordon on September 06, 1998 at 17:56:57:
'Patronising' ... 'hardly acceptable' ... 'very strange'. Poor Spencer Hines. He has committed the one unforgivable sin: he has hinted at a hard, unpalatable truth. And he has suffered for it. Still, there is some good news here. However much the Lake District has changed since Ransome's day, it seems there are adders yet to be found among the fells.
True, a critic might suggest that the voice of the Coniston Launch is not a disinterested commentator in the matter under discussion. And, of course, looking for an unspoiled tourist spot is rather like hoping to find a chaste whore: there are no end of candidates willing to attempt the part, but few can make a success of the role. The Lake District, I suspect, is no exception.
All in all, perhaps the best advice to Mr Hines -- and to anyone else seeking to recapture the charm and adventure of the Ransome books -- is that given on this very board not so long ago (17 September 1997) by "William Blake":
I will not seek authentic sites:
Wherever Nature's close at hand,
There, in our hearts, is Wild Cat Island,
In Ransome's green and pleasant land.