After two fabulous performances by Flutes and Frets at Brantwood, we strolled to Bank Ground Farm for a late lunch at the Swallows and Amazons Tea Room.
Bank Ground Farm on the eastern shores of Lake Coniston, was the inspiration for Arthur Ransome's Holly Howe, the home of the Walker children in Ransome's first novel Swallows and Amazons. The farm lies between Brantwood, John Ruskin’s former home, and Lanehead where Arthur Ransome’s friends the Collingwoods lived.
I like to imagine that it is in the garden, on the shores of Coniston, that the Walker children's mother reads the telegram from their father, giving them permission to sail and camp on Wild Cat island: "BETTER DROWNED THAN DUFFERS IF NOT DUFFERS WON'T DROWN"!
