The Ferry Inn on Windermere

Description

About the book:
Ian Muir was born in Lancashire and lives in the Lake District where he taught art in a number of secondary schools. On taking early retirement his research into family history led to the discovery of great-grandparents who lived and worked in the Sawrey area. Further research uncovered the amazing coincidence that at the same time his wife’s great-grandfather was the innkeeper at the Ferry Inn. These revelations led him to write this account of the Ferry Inn on Windermere.

Reviews:

This book is an unexpected social tapestry. It’s a really compelling tale. Eric Robson, speaking at the Lakeland Book of the Year Award ceremony, 2012.

To extend the history of one inn – even one as interesting as the Ferry Inn on Windermere, to 340 pages is a remarkable feat of authorship. Ian Muir carries off the task with aplomb, exploring not just the inn’s direct history but its many connections to characters and events near and far.

A case in point is its link with the famous mutineer Fletcher Christian, who was born in Cumberland and whose relatives – the Curwens – once owned the hostelry. This is a thorough and fascinationg account over 430 years until the inn’s later incarnation as headquarters of the Freshwater Biological Association in 1950 and, most recently, its part conversion into luxury apartments. Allan Tunningley, Westmorland Gazette.