Captain's Log 

Photographic Exhibition

A couple of the rooms are dedicated to the photographs of Herbert Bell, a lakeland local, and Rupert Potter, the father of Beatrix Potter. The subject matter is of course, the Lake District. Each photo is displayed on a monitor, together with accompanying notes. The photos are of surprisingly high quality given the photographic equipment of the Victorian period and the size to which the images have been expanded.

Herbert Bell was a chemist's son from Ambleside. In fact the Thomas Bell pharmacy still exists on Lake Road in the town. Bell produced the photographs as souvenirs for the tourist trade. I quite liked his photos of his camping expeditions with his mates.

Rupert Potter was from a wealthy Kensington family and would spend whole summers in the Lake District with his family. His photos tended to be of a more formal form. I quite like his photo of his family on the lawn in front of Wray Castle. I went to have a look at where the photo was taken later on, and apart from the addition of  aerials on the main turret, nothing much has changed.

For good measure, a Victorian period sailing boat and tent are displayed in one of the rooms. The remaining rooms on the ground floor were empty.

I found the half hour wandering around the exhibition quite absorbing, although I do have a side interest in photography. On exit from the castle, I treated myself to a rather expensive coffee from Joey's Cafe and then subsequently poured most of it over my trousers. It was a great view over to Fairfield, from the picnic table though, as I waited for my trousers to dry out.