Windermere Steamboats & Museum

We started our holiday in the Lake District with a visit to the slightly oddly named Windermere Steamboats and Museum - to be honest mostly for the Swallows & Amazons content.

But the core of the museum is the steamboats, which were impressive, although being a bit isolated from the visitor and crammed together prevented them being seen in their full glory.

Coch-y-bonddhu, one of Arthur Ransome's dinghies, and the model for Scarab in The Picts and the Martyrs

The centreboard in Cocky.

Lucy inspects the dinghy, with its scarab flag.

The dinghy Mavis, better known to Ransome fans as Amazon

Amazon was varnished in the books rather than painted white, but otherwise she is the boat as described

Some of the other exhibits are these powerboats, many of which are record-holders for some obscure-sounding classes. Even some dating from the 1980s were made with wooden hulls, which was surprising.

Outside, the steam bus providing a link between the museum and Bowness itself.

Outside lies Esperance, the oldest twin-screw boat in the world and the oldest boat on the Lloyds Register of Yachts. But most significantly, she was the inspiration for Captain Flint's houseboat.

"He's got a cannon!" - probably a retired pirate.