The Lake District is England’s biggest National Park. It is home to Scafell Pike – England’s highest mountain – and Windermere – England’s largest natural lake. Unsurprisingly, the area attracts over 14 million visitors every year, who come to enjoy the natural beauty and special charm of Lakeland life. Windermere has long been one of the most popular holiday destinations within the Lake District and that’s thanks, in no small part, to the railway.
Windermere station opened in 1847 as the terminus of the Kendall and Windermere Railway, a branch line connecting to the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway (which now forms part of the West Coast Main Line from London to Glasgow) at Oxenholme. The village where the station was built was then known as Birthwaite, but it soon took on the name of the lake, and the town that grew up is now known as Windermere. The lake itself is about half a mile away.