Bowwin two

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

December 2023. Direction: Windermere to Bowness.

An excellent route and not much longer than Bowwin1, which takes the shortest route along the main road. Much quieter and through leafy suburbs, posh houses and a short stretch of woodland before entering Bowness through a back street.

A pleasant enough route. I walked it late November. As pointed out by other reviewers there are some offputting and incorrect signs. If walking from Bowness the sign saying
private property at the top of the steps may have been put there to put people off. The wall it is stuck to may be private property but the steps from one pavement to the other is surely the highway . There is no sign of coming the other way into Bowness from Windermere. A nice walk through parkland. Quieter if a bit longer that Godwin (one).

A nice quiet little walk gently uphill from Bowness to Windermere
Starting at the junction in Bowness where the Magic Roundabout cafe is. A short walk later passing the bowling green and rugby club. Onwards through pleasant woodland onto a road with large houses which is very quiet, left at the junction and left again on college road back around Windermere town centre to the train station, bus pick up point and Booths.
A recommended short.

I walked this from Windermere to Bowness in August 2022 in good weather. Lovely walk, most of it along a picturesque 'green' road/path (Longlands Road) with almost no traffic. One can optionally add a short diversion down Millbeckstock to the lakeside to visit the charming Jetty Museum and its excellent cafe! The Bowness end of the route is a bit tricky and less attractive through an estate - I'd suggest using Lake Road to get between Longlands Road and the centre of Bowness.

This is a short route as Bowness is essentially a suburb of Windermere but the route is a pleasant one that avoids the exceedingly busy main road connecting the two. For that reason I think this is ~much~ more preferable than BowWin One.

It is a favourite of local dog walkers and the very easy to navigate Longlands Road (a metalled path, not a "road") is a delight. Feels like you are walking through a well tended country park for most of the way (see Photo 2).

The 'private road' signs around the Quarry Rig housing estate are a little off-putting but in practice the route doesn't feel like an intrusion here as it follows the network of roads that give access to the flats. If walking from Bowness to Windermere, don't be put off by the 'private' sign up the steps - the locals there were fine with people walking the route.

You can make this a lovely circular outing from Ambleside by following AmbWin Two, then this BowWin Two and finally take one of the boats from Bowness back to Waterhead (Ambleside).

The description of this route says to turn onto Quarry Brow from Bowness, but the plotted route goes through Quarry Rigg first, via a staircase and past flats. The sign saying “private property, no public right of way” made me uncomfortable, so I would suggest following the A5074 and turning left into Longlands Road then fork right past the rugby ground. There are a lot of “Private” signs as you head up this road of elite housing, but I met several locals along the way who assured me it is a route regularly used by pedestrians and dog-walkers. It is indeed a lovely route through woods with occasional glimpses of the lake. Mostly it is tarmacked, but the middle of it has a lumpy stony surface. Several quiet town roads are followed to arrive at Windermere station. The bulk of the route though, is the quiet and lovely Longlands Road, a great alternative to the main road.

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