As the final day of my visits to Central England Sherlockian filming locations, I decided to visit the Lake District sites of ‘Without a Clue’. The premise of this comedy film (one of my favourite SH films) is that Sherlock Holmes is a fictional creation, the central character in a series of short stories written by Dr John Watson (Ben Kingsley), conceived by him as a way for him to solve crimes incognito, as he views detective work as merely a hobby and does not want the attention it would bring to his medical career. However, when the reading public demand to actually see "Holmes", Watson hires a washed-up stage actor, Reginald Kincaid (Michael Caine) to play the part. After finding a clue relating to the theft of Royal Mint printing plates at supervisor Peter Giles’ address, Watson and Kincaid travel to the Lake District, as did I.
Leaving my hotel, and passing a statue to Alan Turing, I caught a train from Manchester Piccadilly at 7.50. After an hour and forty minutes' journey, and passing through Carnforth, famous for 'Brief Encounter', I arrived into Ulverston. A short walk into the town centre brought me to ‘The Farmer’s Arms’, which appears as ‘The Plough Inn’, which Watson and Kincaid visit to eat, with Watson leaving Kincaid drinking and spinning yarns with the locals. For centuries this historic hostelry on the edge of the Lake District welcomed travellers, locals, goods and ideas through its doors, but as times changed, the Inn struggled to cope.
However, today The Farmer’s Arms is once again a thriving and ambitious rural hub, enhancing the lives of locals and visitors alike with wonderful food and drink, welcoming spaces for folk of all ages, and creative opportunities aplenty. It seemed to be doing a roaring breakfast trade when I arrived to subtly take some photos.
A short walk down a side road brought me to a statue of Laurel and Hardy which was installed in 2010, having been commissioned and paid for by the Sons of the Desert, the Laurel and Hardy Fan Club. It was designed and sculpted by Graham Ibbeson. The statue is a 10% larger than life bronze sculpture showing the famous duo, along with the famous dog which appeared in many films – Laughing Gravy.
The statue stands outside of the Coronation Hall, where in 1947 Stan and Ollie appeared on the balcony. The town council owns the statue, and has it expertly cleaned twice a year.
Another short walk brought me to The Laurel & Hardy Museum which started life as one man’s collection stemming from his lifelong love of ‘the boys’. Starting out as a few scrapbooks of photos, the collection grew over time until it filled one small room with pictures covering all the walls and even the ceiling. As the collection grew, Bill Cubin researched more about the lives of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy and found that Stan had not been born in North Shields, as was widely thought at the time, but his grandparent’s house in Ulverston. In 1976, as mayor of the town, Bill uncovered the proof he was looking for, a birth certificate stating that Arthur Stanley Jefferson (Stan changed his name in 1931) was born in Foundry Cottages, now named Argyle Street.
Exiting the Museum, I made my way across the road, I waited around ten minutes for an X6 bus, which took me to Haverthwaite Station on the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway. Established in 1973, the Railway is a family run business in the heart of the Lake District. Steam engines haul traditional 1950’s carriages through the countryside scenery of the Leven Valley, leisurely transporting passengers along the steeply graded line to Lakeside Station, where connections are available with Windermere Lake Cruises. It was at this point that it began raining (heavily).
This quaint Victorian Station features a Tea Room, Gift Shop, Engine Shed (featuring a vehicle with a familiar name), Woodland Playground and Walk. The line can also be seen in 1974's 'Swallows and Amazons, with Haverthwaite Station standing in for Ulverston Station in the film. However, it was the other terminus that I was interested in.
Having bought my combined train and boat ticket (which had to be Return despite my not needing to come back), I bought a Visitors Guide and postcard. I then waited around for the 12.00 train. Having watched the engine, 2682 'Princess' built in 1942, change ends, I climbed on board. The train left on time, and 18 minutes later was pulling into Lakeside Station.
When Watson and Kincaid travel to the Lake District, they arrive at ‘Windermere Station’, in actuality Lakeside Station, from which they also travel back to London. The station sits at the southern end of Lake Windermere and from its opening in 1869 by the Furness Railway until eventual closure by BR in 1965, it was known as Windermere Lake Side.
The filming featured ex-Manchester Ship Canal Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T No.31 Hamburg from the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway on a train of two Metropolitan Railway coaches from the Vintage Carriages Trust at Ingrow. Despite this, however, the scene filmed onboard used a Mk1 coach.
The station offers direct connections to Windermere Lake Cruises and the Lakeside Pier, which also appears in the film was on the opposite side of the station building, and can be seen in several shots from the film. Therefore, having taken photos of the platform, I made my way to the pier, taking a few shots before getting on the Steamer, MV Swan, built in 1938 by Vickers of Barrow. The sections of boat were transported by rail to Lakeside and assembled. Once aboard I found that photos of the pier were easier from the top deck of the boat.
I slowly cruised along Lake Windermere, thankful for the Steamer's roof, with the boat
first stopping at Bowness then continuing to Ambleside, the whole trip taking
just under 90 minutes.There was a helpful commentary which pointed out Broad Leys and Windermere Boat Racing Club which appeared in the 'Agatha Christie's Poirot' episode, 'Dumb Witness', just visible through the haze
From here my plan was to catch a bus to Keswick, home of the first pencil, to visit the Derwent Pencil Museum, and Fawe Park, which appears in ‘Without A Clue’ as ‘The Shakespeare Arms’, Watson and Kincaid’s lodgings whilst in the Lake District (and where they are watched by Colonel Moran). The building is best known for being where Beatrix Potter spent Summer 1903.
However, due to the rain getting worse, and my missing my bus due to there being three bus stops with the same name in a sort-of triangle formation and my waiting at the wrong one, I decided to instead make directly for Penrith and the station from which I was booked to travel back to London. Having started my expeditions by missing a connection, I was also aware that my connection from my bus from Keswick was less than 10 minutes. Picking up an earlier timetabled X5 bus to the one I would have caught from Keswick, the fact that it was running 15 minutes late, confirmed that I had made the right decision. Keswick would have to wait for another time.
Settled into my booked seat, I thought over the past four days – sixteen filming locations from four different Sherlockian productions, a ‘Sherlock’ guest star, and most importantly, four days not thinking about work.
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