Drive & Stroll, with Ron Freethy - this week, HAVERTHWAITE to LAKESIDE

THE footpaths around the well-established Haverthwaite to Lakeside steam railway bring back memories of an idyllic childhood during and just after the war.

This was the Furness area of Lancashire until 1974 when Cumbria was established.

The railway track runs alongside the River Leven. The river emerges from Lake Windermere and flows onwards to the estuary at Greenodd.

The Ulverston to Lakeside line, via Haverthwaite, closed possibly as a direct result of the decommissioning of the Backbarrow Iron Furnace in 1967.

British Rail were not at all helpful to the volunteers trying to preserve a tourist steam railway and refused to allow a link to the main line at Ulverston. Enthusiasts, however, did save a three-and-a-half mile stretch from Haverthwaite to Lakeside.

Lakeside is the second of the railway termini and also the home base of the steamer service around Windermere. The old railway buildings have been converted into an impressive aquarium which features the creatures found in the rivers and lakes of Cumbria.

If you want to make a full day of it from East Lancashire it is possible to travel by train via Preston and Carnforth to Windermere. A stroll (or a bus) down to Bowness brings you to the steamer service to Lakeside and then on to the steam trains.

Before travelling on the train I strolled down through Haverthwaite to Lowwood Bridge and watched anglers in search of salmon, while a kingfisher flashed its wonderful colours aided by shafts of sunshine.

I knew that the kingfisher was hungry and not feeding young because the fish was placed head first in the bird's mouth and ready for swallowing. Obviously fish do not like being grabbed and they stick out their gills at right angles.

The fish could get stuck as the bird tried to swallow it and for this reason if they are feeding young they present the fish headfirst. The kingfisher I watched quickly swallowed its own breakfast -- head first!

From Haverthwaite I strolled into the hamlet of Lowwood and then turned left along a footpath which followed the riverbank. I watched swallows feeding young among the ruins of the old gunpowder works.

As an eight-year-old I watched Italian prisoners of war eating their lunch as they worked at the gunpowder works and nearby were men with dogs and pointed sticks, hunting for otters.

Killing otters was not illegal in 1944 (not until 1971 actually) but I can say that this was the day that I became a keen naturalist and conservationist. After an hour exploring this beautiful footpath I made my way up to the steam railway. I ate an early lunch while the train rattled on passing the old iron furnace and the mill which once produced Dolly Blue.

I had friends whose parents worked at the Backbarrow Blue Works and they came home as blue as an old English warrior covered in woad. The mill is now an impressive leisure centre.

While travelling I also had time to look through some old photographs of this area. These show the days when steamers actually were steamers and were coal fired. In the 1950s canoeing was a favoured sport with the youngsters but at that time Lakeside was already showing signs of decline and a lack of essential investment.

In the last 10 years things have changed for the better and Lakeside now looks neat and well cared-for.

There is a splendid walk up to Newby Bridge and Stott Park Bobbin Mill, which has been fully restored. In its prime this mill processed Lake District timber (usually birch or sycamore) to produce bobbins for East Lancashire cotton factories.

Stott Park is open from April to October and steam days are from Tuesday to Thursday. Telephone: 01539 531087.

The telephone number for the Haverthwaite and Lakeside Railway is 01539 531594.

The Aquarium of the Lakes is open daily from 9am and the telephone number is 01539 530153.

There is splendid countryside around all these attractions and I saw buzzard, common sandpiper and kingfisher. A fox crossed the Newby Bridge road carrying a pheasant. After careful timing and planning I enjoyed one of my most memorable trips so far in 2002

How to get there: Follow the M6 motorway to Junction 36. Then follow the A590 road to Haverthwaite Station or turn right at Newby Bridge and park at Lakeside.