It’s all hands on deck as Cumbria’s most popular paid for attraction gears up what is hoped to be a strong main season.
With Easter falling early this year and seasonal staff now in place, Windermere Lake Cruises is preparing the 16-strong fleet that last year carried 1.2 million people on Windermere.
But with global issues already leading to cancellations what will the 2026 season bring?
Business Crack’s Nigel Thompson has been behind the scenes at the company’s Bowness HQ.
Dozens of wooden rowing boats which have been part of the Bowness lakeside for generations are being readied for the coming season.
A flotilla of bigger boats whose names are part of the lake’s history, Queen of the Lake among them, have been brought out of winter storage ready for an intense period of work to get them ready for service.
The buzz around Bowness is definitely in the air as Alec Williamson, Windermere Lake Cruises’ boat builder and maintenance manager, oversees a crucial day in the company’s calendar.
The safe arrival of the boats brought to Bowness after a winter spent off the lake at Lakeside is just the start of an intense period for Alec and his team.
“We’ve craned our four traditional wooden launches in, we’ve got two big cranes in and a lot of planning for months and months, getting it all geared up and we’ve all got our fingers so it must have worked alright!” Alec said.
After 42 years spent around boats beginning when his elder brother worked for the company he worked through the company from rowing boat and the self-drive craft to the position he holds now.
The challenge on vessels of all ages is maintenance and the wear and tear of a business that operates 364 days a year.
“Technology is coming on so much so if you’re doing any big jobs you’ve got to plan ahead because we’re quite in the sticks up here, everything is on the south coast, proper marine places, whereas here you’ve got to order stuff well in advance,” he said.
“Even the new ones need maintenance because they get so much use, so many people come on. A basic door lock might have been used a thousand times in a couple of days so just wear out.”
With an office that must be in the running to have the best view in Cumbria, sales and marketing director Jennifer Cormack can keep an eye on services.
A quick head count as the boats pass her window overlooking Bowness Bay reassures her team that an exhaustive round of promotion has paid off.
“In a way, it is an easy sell because you mention the Lake District and people say, ‘oh, it’s amazing, it’s a beautiful place’.” Jennifer – just back from a promotional trip to Stockholm, said.
“But then you go to some places in the world that have never heard of the Lake District.
“For instance, the first time I went out to China, when I mentioned the Lake District, they thought I meant Italy because of the Lake District there.
“We had to then talk about the English Lake District and show pictures, especially for people in cities like Beijing and Shanghai that live in tower blocks, of what they can see here.”
As we talk the conflict in Iran is still in its early days. The first cancellation caused by it has come in.
“We’ve had our first cancellation just a couple of days ago which was a Filipino group booking who cancelled because they were flying in via the Middle East,” Jennifer said.
“China is our biggest inbound market by far and at the moment, we’ve got direct flights from Beijing and Shanghai directly into Manchester.
“A huge amount of other flights fly directly into London and Edinburgh so they’re not having to go via any of the Middle East hubs.
“We do probably think we’ll see a few more Southeast Asian, maybe Australian cancellations because they were using Dubai or Doha as a hub.”
Around 20% of all visitors to the cruise company are from abroad. Last year 1.2 million people enjoyed Windermere by boat.
The growing phenomenon of visiting locations where films were shot – so-called ‘set-jetting’ – may well work in Windermere’s favour which has seen several feature films based here.
As someone involved in tourism for over two decades, how has she seen the industry change?
“What I do think has changed and what makes it quite a difficult sell sometimes is we are very authentic, very historical,” Jennifer said.
“A lot of the younger travellers are now wanting more experiential travel. They’re wanting different activities. So it’s how we have to change our products to do that.”
The company has invested in 85 electric self-drive boats which are proving popular with families and those looking to explore the lake for themselves.
VisitBritain’s recent push to promote the Cumbrian coast has been welcomed as a way of showcasing the variety on offer and that there is more to Cumbria than just the lakes.
“We do work collaboratively with other businesses, for example offering sustainable transport up to Brockhole National Park Visitor Centre as well as Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit which is hugely synonymous with the Japanese market and I don’t think that will ever fade,” she said.
As one of the company’s newest boat masters, Ethan Close is looking forward to taking charge of one of the famous ferries that are part of Windermere’s landscape.
Since joining in 2018 at 18 the volunteer Sea Cadet instructor has always been fond of water and encouraged by a mate has been part of the company ever since.
“For me, the steamers are the best place to be,” he said. “You work as more of a team because there’s six of you on a boat and you get more passengers because the Swan holds 520 and on a busy weekend you can get to them figures quite quickly.”
Wat is appeal of being responsible for a boat on England’s longest – and sometimes busiest – lake?
“All of a sudden you are responsible for passengers and I quite like that – I don’t mind the responsibility, Ethan said.
“You’ve always got to be one step ahead of everybody else. As long as the passengers are safe, then that’s all you want really. “
Back on the jetty the new arrivals – Sunflower, Queen, Princess and Muriel – are already receiving attention to get them back into full working order after their winter storage at the south of the lake.
After a wash and removal of cracked varnish they undergo repair and maintenance to ready them for passengers.
Despite the winter storms, maintenance manager Alec is happy with the amount of TLC they now need.
“They’re looking really good this year considering the weather we’ve had,” he said studying the open-air seats that will soon be in demand on fine days.
“If we keep on top of them, they’ll look after themselves. There are various cappings around the sides where they’ve damaged on the piers to be replaced and some of the floor bearers. The actual hull is absolutely fine because one of the last things I do is spray them with wood preserver.”
Despite the uncertainty of the war in Iran and changing demands closer to home, the 200-strong Windermere Cruises crew are hoping 2026 will be a strong season and that all the preparation and planning will pay off.
“We’re hoping to grow visitor numbers back to where they were pre-pandemic, continue to work collaboratively, look at ways that we can diversify our products and listen to the markets,” Jennifer said.
With late afternoon cloud building over Fairfield, mirrored in calm water, Ethan sums the view up:
“Raining or summer, you still see the mountains and you can’t fault it. I think anybody who comes up here should always come and have a look. You don’t get many views like this anywhere else.”
Hear the Northern Lights podcast recorded at Windermere Lake Cruises.
