Posted by Ed Kiser on January 12, 2012 at 07:11:18 user Kisered.
In Reply to: Lake High posted by John Nichols on January 10, 2012 at 08:50:36:
There is this webcam by the marina at the Low Wood Hotel on Windermere:
http://www.elh.co.uk/watersports/web_cam.aspx
By "visiting" via this webcam (even though I am in Kentucky in the USA) I can see the weather, the water level in the lake, the wave conditions, and, even become more aware of the length of the day in this northern region. In WINTER HOLIDAY, they spoke of the shortness of the daylight, with plenty of time for star gazing in the evenings. The further north one gets, the greater is this difference in daytimes between Summer and Winter. Of course, I have to adjust my own concept of "time of day" to the different time zone of the Lake District, but even with that clock adjustment, it still amazes me at what such an early hour that the sun goes down, with twilight and then darkness being so obvious in this timly webcam that is showing the current contitions at this moment. In the Summer, that the daylight time that far north is very long is brougt out in Picts and Martyrs, as Dick, seeing the telescope there in the Beckfoot bedroom that first night, and being excited about the prospect of star viewing, but is reminded that he would probably be long askeep before it got dark enough for star watching. Watching the webcam showing me the day/night conditions, with the mood light on some nights providing the illumination during the night, does emphasize this shift in the daylight/nighttime hours at these northern lattitudes, especially when I compare this with the day/night times I saw in South Florida, being close to the tropics, where the shift in day time for Winter or Summer was much less. There is a good world geography lesson here to view the Lake District conditions via this webcamera. Interesting to see that sometimes, the jetties where boats arae moored are sometimes under water, and at times, there are definite waves splashing on the shore.
We are all fascinated by "The Lake" in Ransome's imagination, but this webcam does much to make that mental image into reality, sailboats and all.
So if you can't get there phyically, enjoy the vicarious visit via webcam.
Oh, to dip my hand, and say, "I'm REALLY here." Um...
Ed Kiser, Kentucky