The History of

History of the Borrowdale Hotel

The hotel still has copies of adverts from the hotel’s first 20 years in which

The Borrowdale Hotel, near Keswick, has been taking guests since 1866 and was one of the first coaching inns built in the Borrowdale valley, remaining a favourite for returning guests ever since.

Advertising ...since 1879

they proudly advertise “hot, cold and shower baths and collection by Omnibus from Keswick station!”

We have pictures from throughout the hotel’s 140 year history and some original invoices too. One of the earliest adverts for the hotel can be found in an 1879 publication ‘Gates Ewe Shepherds Guide for Cumberland and Westmorland and Lancashire’.

In its early days the hotel was patronised by H.R.H. Prince Arthur, The Prince of Wales and other leading nobility of Great Britain.

The Borrowdale Hotel has since passed through several owners. The first were the Italian Cesari family who moved to the Lake District from Inverness, Scotland. The hotel includes an article from 1908 which discusses a fire which did £60 of damage! The Askew family ran the hotel and a coaching company that took guests to and from the station, and the original coaching timetable is part of the hotels collection. The Coward family and the Goodfellow’s have also been proprietors – some old photographs of the hotel highlight the name changes.

The gardens were created at the same time as the hotel and the Cherry and Magnolia trees, planted the same year, can still be seen today. “Rarely do they both flower at the same time but it seems that the Magnolia tree has quite a following” said Kit Graves, Director. “In April and May we have quite a few lunchtime visitors who come specially to see the Magnolia in bloom. While it never flowers for long, it is a beautiful sight when it does!”

“The establishment is the only Hotel situated immediately at the head of Derwentwater…and commands the grandest views of lakes, mountains and valleys of this most romantic part of the Lake District...The omnibus meets all the trainsat Keswick Station.”

A history of owners and guests

The Borrowdale Hotel garden

Peter FidrmucPrevious owner of the Borrowdale Hotel

“When we took over, there were no phones in the bedrooms and no central heating. One of the first projects was the extension to the bar lounge area, closely followed by improving the dining room. More recently the conservatory was added, and soon became a favourite location for lunchtime guests - especially in the spring.”

During the early part of the 20th century two well known sisters were in charge - Mabel Leyland and Elsie Whittaker who ran the hotel during the Second World War. Elsie’s son Peter Whittaker (a previous owner of Treeby and Bolton, Keswick) took over before passing it to his brother Michael. It was Michael who then sold to Jean and Günter Fidrmuc at 5pm on 19th April 1973.

The hotel was then run by their son Peter until 2008 when it was bought by Lake District Hotels Limited. The following years have seen a modernisation and refurbishment of the hotel whilst still retaining it’s old world charm.

Former hotelier, Thomas Bownass came out of retirement when he drove his pony and cart past the Borrowdale Hotel which had then been empty for 4 years. Thomas bought it and called his daughter Mabel Leyland (nee Bownass), who was recently widowed and running the Imperial in Blackpool, back to help run it.Thomas installed a petrol pump and sold petrol to guests from a wind-up pump after the local council widened the road using some of the field he owned. People came for a fortnight at a time in those days, so there was an aviary for the popular pet budgerigars next to the veranda!

Mabel Leyland and sister, Elsie Whitaker took over when Thomas Bownass died. Post-war the over mantles were taken down from the hall and lounge fireplaces and burned on Bonfire Night to be replaced by brick. In the early 1940’s during the 2nd World War, self evacuee’s and visiting friends used the garden passage shutters to act as a dug out in case of bombing.Traditionally at Christmas, Mabel made a large portion of mincemeat and all the guests stirred it in the hall before Christmas pudding was made.

Peter Whitaker took over the hotel for a short while.

Family members, Michael and Francis Whitaker started to run the hotel. Reception used to be where the ladies toilet is, but that was moved to its current location which was previously a Cocktail Bar – that can be seen in an old colour brochure we have kept.Electricity was installed in 1960’s which is when they had to cut through the bell cabling we still see today.

During the 18 years Günter and Jean Fidrmuc owned the hotel, a lot of alterations were made to the exisiting layout; the bar/lounge and dining room were expanded, a beautiful conservatory added, the veranda dismantled and remade, as well as stopping the sale of petrol.

Peter Fidrmuc took over the hotel from his parents.

Lake District Hotels Ltd. owned by the Graves family now runs this historic hotel. They have refurbished all bedrooms and the ground floor including restaurant, lounges, reception and bar, as well as transforming the former self catering cottage into 4 brand new bedrooms.

Borrowdale Hotel Recent Timeline1926

1928

1950

1956

1973

1991

2008

Although the Borrowdale Hotel has been beautifully furnished for today’s guest, we have retained the charm and character that has always made this hotel unique. We still have artefacts and features intact from as far back as 1866.

Do you know the history of the Borrowdale Hotel from 1866 - 1922? We are always interested in the ancestry of our hotels so if you do have any further information, please do let us know, email us

marketing@lakedistricthotels.net