Peel Island, Cumbria
{{Short description|Island chain}}
{{distinguish|Piel Island}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
File:Peel Island, Coniston.jpg
Peel Island (formerly known as Montague Island or the Gridiron{{cite book |title= The Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore and Legend|year= 1890|pages= 513}}) is one of the three islands of Coniston Water in the English Lake District, Cumbria. The two others are Fir Island (which is connected to the shore unless the water is particularly high) and Oak Island. It is most famous for being one of the inspirations for Arthur Ransome's Wild Cat Island. Today, it is a popular tourist destination, and belongs to the National Trust.{{cite book |title= The Good Guide to the Lakes|last= Holman|first= Tom|author2=Davies, Hunter|year= 2008|publisher= Frances Lincoln Publishers|isbn= 978-0-7112-2861-0|pages= 131}}
History
File:Peel Island - geograph.org.uk - 7866.jpg
Peel Island has belonged to the National Trust since it was given to them by John Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch, along with {{convert|11|acres}} of woodland, in 1932.{{cite news |title= Further gift of land to the national trust|newspaper= The Times|date= 1935-05-22}}
Wild Cat Island
Peel Island is considered to be one of the origins of the fictional Wild Cat Island in the 1930 book Swallows and Amazons and its sequels, by Arthur Ransome.{{cite news |first= Belinda|last= Artingstoll|title= The islands of Coniston|url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria/content/articles/2006/07/21/coniston_islands_2006_feature.shtml|publisher= BBC|date= 2006-08-07|accessdate=30 November 2008 }} Taqui Altounyan, sister of Roger Altounyan and inspiration for one of the characters in Swallows and Amazons, described Peel Island in her autobiography In Aleppo Oncep.179. as "like a green tuffet, sitting in the water, the trees covering the rocks".{{cite news |first= Mary-Kay|last= Wilmers|title= Once in Aleppo|url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE7D91030F937A15751C0A967958260|newspaper= New York Times|date= 1991-02-24|accessdate=30 November 2008 }}{{cite book |title= Arthur Ransome and Captain Flint's Trunk|last= Hardyment|first= Christina|year= 1984|publisher=Cape|isbn= 0-224-02989-4|pages=41–42}} The island also features in W. G. Collingwood's novel Thorstein of the Mere, A Saga of the Northmen in Lakeland. Ransome, at the age of eight, first met the Collingwoods at a family picnic on Peel Island: a chance meeting that would prove to have important consequences in Ransome's later life, with Collingwood's grandchildren providing a model for significant characters in Swallows and Amazons.{{cite book|last=Brogan|first=Hugh|authorlink=Hugh Brogan|title=The Life of Arthur Ransome|publisher=Cape|location=London|year=1984|pages=4; 44; 311|isbn=0-224-02010-2}}
Accident
In 1967, Donald Campbell died near Peel Island while trying to set a world water speed record with a speed in excess of {{convert|300|mph}}.{{cite news |first= Derek|last= Clements|title= Caught in time: Water speed record bid ends in tragedy, 1967|url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article3056450.ece|newspaper= The Times|date= 2007-12-16|accessdate=30 November 2008 }}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
References
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{{coord|54.3169|-3.0853|type:landmark_region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SD295918)|display=title}}
Category:Islands of the Lake District