Windermere's role in aviation history showcased in exhibition

This permanent exhibition tells the story of how England's largest lake was the site of the UK's first flights to take off from water, leading to the establishment of a flying boat factory on its shores during the Second World War.

The exhibition was opened yesterday (August 27) by Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale.

The exhibition was organised by the Waterbird Project, which has also announced dates for flights of a replica of the first UK seaplane.

The displays are located next to the From Auschwitz to Ambleside exhibition at Windermere Library, which recounts the story of 300 children who survived Nazi death camps and were flown to Carlisle at the end of the Second World War to settle in the Calgarth Estate on Windermere's shores.

This estate was previously home to workers of the Short Brothers factory, which built the Sunderland flying boats.

Mr Farron said: "This is an amazing story, and it is fantastic that this exhibition is here to celebrate the ingenuity shown by those behind the original Waterbird.

“The Wright brothers invented flying in 1903, and just six years later Captain Wakefield and his cohorts were using their ingenuity to get planes taking off from Windermere.

“This led to the first Royal Navy air training school and passenger flights here.

"Later Shorts were using Calgarth Estate to house workers at the Shorts Brothers factory to build flying boats during the Second World War.

"That same estate then housed 300 children who had escaped the horrors of the Nazi death camps and made a fresh start here.

“Having these two exhibitions here in the centre of Windermere, in its library, is inspirational.”

Anne Hughes, trustee and one of the organisers at the permanent Waterbird Exhibition (Image: Milton Haworth)

The exhibition features Captain E W Wakefield, a key figure in the UK's development of water-based aircraft and the inventor of the 'stepped' float.

Ian Gee, chair of Lakes Flying Club which is behind the Waterbird Project, said: "We are delighted to finally get a permanent display paying tribute to the people behind Waterbird and the crucial part it played in the development of aviation in the UK."

The exhibition also highlights the contributions of aviation pioneers who helped make Wakefield's vision a reality.

These include Oscar Gnosspelius, Ronald Kemp, and John Lankester Parker, all of whom had significant roles in the aviation industry in the early 20th century.

The exhibition is now open for free entry.

Trevor Avery, director of the Lake District Holocaust Project, said: "The Lake District has a proud history of industry and enterprise that demands recognition, none more so than the exploits of Captain E W Wakefield in the early years of the Twentieth Century."

The Waterbird Project spent ten years researching and developing an exact replica of the 1911 Waterbird, which successfully flew for the first time in 2022.

Flying displays of the replica Waterbird are scheduled for September 6 and 7 from 7pm.

Spectators at viewing points at Brockhole on Windermere will also see a flying display by a second, more modern seaplane, the Aviat Husky, showing the long legacy that Waterbird inspired.

The pilot for this year's event will be Lieutenant Commander Chris Gotke, a serving Royal Navy pilot and the Fixed Wing Commander at the Empire Test Pilots’ School, of which he is a graduate.

He said: "Although the flights will be brief, they will be breath-taking.

"It is an incredible privilege flying such an evocative early aeroplane.

"Edward Wakefield, who developed the original Waterbird, described flight from water as 'Something that beckoned'.

"When asked if I would fly Waterbird, stepping back in time to the dawn of naval aviation on Windermere, I felt exactly the same - something beckoned."

On September 6, between 6pm and 6.30pm, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Lancaster and the Navy Wings' Harvard will also pass through on their way to the Ayr Airshow.

The Lancaster was built by Avro, as was the original Waterbird as a landplane in 1911 at Manchester.

For more information about the status of flights, details can be checked at www.waterbird.org.uk.