Discovering... Coniston & Surroundings

Just published in 2005! A new 64 page guide to the Lakeland village of Coniston, in Cumbria, and its stunning surroundings. Includes a free Photo-CD!

Ordering Information     Topic Headings

The beautiful Tarn Hows, with Coniston Old Man in the background

    If Coniston only had its lake, its brooding mountain background and the enchanting Yewdale, it would still provide for a memorable visit. Yet since the Bronze Age man has shaped and twisted this environment, managing the woodlands and wresting slate and copper ores from its bowels. Coniston Water has seen vessels from gunpowder barges to the exquisite steam yacht Gondola, while the hills bear sad evidence of wartime tragedies.

    Read about those whose legacies survive, amongst them William Le Fleming, Arthur Ransome, Beatrix Potter, John Ruskin, and Donald Campbell. Explore the fells with the walkers, and those who must sometimes rescue them!

Coniston Hall, seen across Coniston Water near the landing stage

    Free Photo-CD! Contains copies of the pictures in the booklet, in full screen size, in full colour. View and print them out with the friendly browser, on a pc.

    There is so much for the casual visitor to miss on a visit to Coniston, while his attention is taken by the lake, or by a scramble on the Old Man perhaps. You don't have to be a literary expert to marvel at the breadth of Ruskin's skills and intellect, to discover how his ideas have influenced our society today. The hills you gaze up at hide tragic stories, such as that of the young bomber crew who met disaster on a foul night in 1944. The lake itself holds evidence of the ice sheet that once covered the area, in the form of the Arctic Char.

    All described in Discovering... Coniston & Surroundings

Just £4.99 including free Post and Packing

(This is the same total price as in the shops)

Ordering Information
Please send a cheque or postal order for £4.99 to:
Open Country Prints
Bay Cottage
Main Street
Baycliff
Ulverston
Cumbria LA12 9RN

Also available from:
The Bluebird Cafe, Lake Road, Coniston
Brantwood, Coniston
The Ruskin Museum, Coniston
Tinners' Rabbit Bookshop, Market Street, Ulverston
Ottakars, Portland Walk, Barrow-in-Furness

Or order by credit card by pressing the button below.

(Credit card payments will indicate payment to our group name, Westbay Technology Ltd).

The SV Gondola, on Coniston Water

Topics Included
The guide is divided into easy to read sections covering In the Village (Coniston), Around Coniston Water, More Surroundings, Up in the Hills, and Short Walks, describing the following topics:

In the Village
About Coniston, The Ruskin Museum, Ruskin Lace, The Church of St Andrew

Around Coniston Water
Around Coniston Water, A Quest for Speed, John Ruskin, Brantwood, Arctic Char, Gondola, A Mediaeval Bloomery, Coniston Hall, Woodland Industries, The Gunpowder Story, Exploring with Arthur Ransome

More Surroundings
Country Fairs, The Foxfield to Coniston Railway, A Spinning Gallery, The Monk Coniston Estate, Grizedale Forest, Hodge Close Quarry, Visiting Tarn Hows, Torver and Solitude on the High Common, Dry Stone Walls, What’s in a (Place) Name?

Up in the Hills
Slate Quarrying, Copper Mining, Hidden Tarns, Glimpses of Dunnerdale, The Mountain Rescue Teams, Folk on the Fells, Herdwick Sheep, Air Disasters in the Hills, For the Armchair Fell-Walker

Short Walks
Two Strolls, Coniston Hall via the old Railway Track, Miners Bridge & Coppermines Valley, Low Yewdale, Exploring Coppermines Valley, Exploring Tilberthwaite

Bibliography and Web Sites