Local Attractions and Area

The Royal Oak is situated two miles south of Coniston Lake on the west bank of the river Crake and an ideal base for visiting the many attractions offered in Lakeland these include.

The Haverthwaite steam railway is only three miles away, the railway passes through four miles of beautiful Lakeland scenery before connecting with the famous Windermere Lake cruise ships at Lakeside, here you can sail to Bowness or Ambleside, two quaint old England towns on the shores of the lake.

Bowness and Ambleside are ideal places to start fell walking and take in the breathtaking Lakeland scenery.
On your return you may choose visit the Aquarium of the Lakes located on the Quay at Lakeside, before returning by steam train to Haverthwaite.

The Holker Hall Motor Museum is a seven mile drive away and houses an extensive collection of vehicles and related items numbering several thousand The vehicles include Sir Donald Cambell's own sports car and a full size replica of the famous Blue Bird speed boat, the wreck of the original is now being restored. Holker Hall its self has some wonderful gardens open to the public, the very large country home of the Cavendish family is open to the public from May to September.

Traveling North form the Royal Oak for six miles along the shore of Lake Coniston brings you to the small town of Coniston which is surrounded by spectacular scenery and offers many country walks, including the climb to the top of Coniston Old Man from where  on a clear day can see the whole of South Lakeland.

Five miles south of the Royal Oak is the ancient market town of Ulverston where you will find the Laurel and Hardy museum, and the monument built on the top of Hoad Hill as an exact copy of the original Edistone Lighthouse in memory of Sir John Barrow Bart who wrote the book Mutiny on the Bounty and also discovered the Bearing Straights.

A Brief History of the Area

Spark Bridge and the surrounding area is steeped in history with evidence of settlement from the neolithic period or earlier, sites include Torver Moor (overlooking Coniston Lake) and Birkrigg near Ulverston on the West shore of Morecambe Bay. The Romans exploited the iron ore and evidence of slate quarrying is seen in the extensive quarries above Gawthwaite and local forts are found at Kendal and Ambleside. Viking place names, river and sea ports are numerous. Transport by packhorse was the norm for centuries, old enlarged packhorse bridges can be found at Penny Bridge and Backbarrow.

Coniston Water was used to transport slate with out ports at Penny Bridge and Greenodd. The Bays creeks were used as sea ports for export of local goods The local fells and commons abound with the remains of bloomery sites (for smelting ore in the middle ages). These were succeeded by iron furnaces, local sites include Penny Bridge, Nibthwaite, Newlands, Low Wood and Backbarrow. A wealth of items were produced by woodland industries. Leather tanning was significant,an old site is found at Rusland. Charcoal was of key significance to local industry and was produced on sites in all local woodland. Gunpowder was produced at Low Wood and Black Beck.

Lancashire cotton mills were at Spark Bridge and Backbarrow. Bobbin mills to supply the cotton industry during the 19th and 20th century examples once flourished at Spark Bridge and Stott Park. The old redundant cotton mill buildings at Backbarrow were converted to manufacture Ultramarine Blue pigment in 1898 and manufacture ceased in 1982.