As we continue to digitise our collection of glass plates, we are always intrigued to find the stories behind the photographs.
We were delighted recently to hear from the daughter of Jim Tebay who contacted us to tell us all about a photograph of men at work on boats at Bowness Bay. As well as identifying her father she also revealed all the names of the other men and that the photograph was taken in 1954. It shows members of the Tebay family who were involved with rowing boat hire at a time when it was a seasonal business. She recalled that in those days boats would be stored for the winter in the Old Laundry in Bowness, now the World of Beatrix Potter.
A family that we would like to find out more about are the Warburtons from Manchester who lived at Cragwood. In August 1898 W. Warburton commissioned Shepherds to build a 36’ electric launch named Swallow at a cost of £122.10s.0d. A photograph of this elegant boat, gives us a tantalising glimpse of her illusive owners. These early electric launches had relatively short lives as battery acid would eat into the wooden hulls. When Shepherds took on the commission for the Warburtons’ next boat, they opted for steam power, and the result was Swallow, the 1911 steamer in our collection.
If you have any information that would aid our research on the Warburtons or other individuals who have a connection with Windermere boats then we would love to hear from you.
