Coniston Launch

Coniston Launch was set up in 1992 by Gordon and Margaret Hall, running traditional wooden launches on two circular routes around Coniston Water that call at jetties including Brantwood, Torver and Sunny Bank. Douglas and Gillian Hodgson took over the business, trading as Coniston Ferry Service Ltd, when the founders retired in February 2008, and continue to run it from the pier at the north end of Lake Road. The fleet includes Ransome, bought in 1994, and Campbell, a former sea-going ferry rebuilt as a lakeland launch by Patterson Boatworks of Hawkshead in 2011 to carry up to 63 passengers, alongside the smaller heated launch Cygnet. Themed sailings include a cruise linked to Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons, set on the lake, and a Campbells on Coniston cruise covering Donald Campbell's water speed record attempts here in the 1950s and 1960s, with commentary from the crew. Sailings run to a reduced timetable outside the main summer season, and tickets can be bought at the pier kiosk or on board.