Hi Dennis -
Well, Bowland Bridge is a tiny hamlet situated to the south of Kendal and Bowness/Windermere (town) and roughly midway between Kendal and Windermere (the lake), and I can almost guarantee that public transport will be sparse, if non existent, so to get to the Hare and Hounds you are probably best getting a taxi or begging a lift from your friends.
What’s nearby? Well, ‘swearing in church’ as it were, there’s another pub nearby, the well known Masons Arms at Strawberry Bank which overlooks Bowland Bridge. You are not far from the chain hauled ferry south of Bowness which will take you across Windermere (lake) and leave you with a steep uphill walk to Far Sawrey and Hill Top, the former home of Beatrix Potter (better known as ‘Mrs Heelis’ to some locals!).
From Bowness you can catch one of the Windermere ferries (three of them, white with green trim, The Teal, The Tern and The Swan) up the lake to Ambleside and the town and hills around, or down it to Newby Bridge to access the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway (some steam hauled). Alternatively there are any number of launches plying similar routes on the lake. If Wordsworth is your thing you’ll need to catch the bus (I believe it’s the 555) which will take you to Grasmere from Windermere (town) bus station - it is a fair old walk up through Bowness and Windermere to the top of the latter. Alight at Grasmere to visit Dove Cottage (it’s on the main road, the A591, outside of the village) where Wordsworth was possibly at his most productive (there are a couple of other Wordsworth residences nearby, notably Allan Bank). However if you stay on the bus it will take you all the way through the Lakes to Keswick which is worth a stroll round (it’s favoured by Rick Steves as his Lakeland stopover). The bus trip, which advertises itself as ‘the most scenic bus ride in England’, is a fairly leisurely affair and takes a good hour or so to reach Keswick.
If the weather is fine, the Lakes are walking central and there are any number of footpaths from easy Lakeside strolls to full blown mountain expeditions, the choice is yours. If that is your thing there will be a ton of information locally. If you decide to visit Keswick, it’s possible to bus there and back, catch a launch across Derwentwater, climb Catbells and return to Keswick - see handy video piece by Rick Steves! - but it would be a long day. (My favoured way of doing it is launch to Hawse End, climb Catbells, descend and walk back to Keswick via the house where Beatrix Potter wrote ‘Squirrel Nutkin’ - name escapes me for the moment but it was doing tea and cakes last time we passed - Nichol End - more tea and cake at the Marina - and Portinscale - more cafes and a pub - and back to Kendal. You can shorten this by catching the boat back from Hawse End, but you miss the en route refreshments).
There is a Lakeland visitor centre at Brockhole, but I have never spent a great deal of time there (bar one rainy afternoon, when the planned falconry exhibition had been moved indoors to a lecture room - focused the mind somewhat when a large Harris Hawk was swooping about in such a confined space!).
Not sure where the motor museum is, as it is not really my thing. I’m sure you’ll have a great trip and if the weather doesn’t cooperate, well, you are staying in a pub! If there’s anything else you think I might be able to help you with, do let me know.
Ian
