Waterbird Historical Plaque
Second Plaque is Unveiled!
The Waterbird Plaque is the second in the series of plaques produced by the Civic Society, the first being on the Windermere Hotel.
The unveiling of the Waterbird Plaque on the Society topograph on The Glebe in Bowness took place on 20th September, 2012, and was followed by an evening talk at the Marchesi Centre.
Following research into the history of Waterbird and careful design by a dedicated team from the Civic Society, the plaque was manufactured by a local craftsman and mounted on the wall by a local building company.
The wording on the plaque is Waterbird - The first successful British seaplane flight was made on 25th November 1911 by Captain Edward Wakefield's 'Waterbird' from Hill of Oaks to Bowness Bay. Seaplanes and flying-boats were built, repaired and flown on Windermere from 1911 - 1920 and 1942 - 1945.
In the early morning of 25 November 1911 a hydro-aeroplane called "Waterbird" took off from the waters of Windermere, flew for a short time and alighted safely. Herbert Stanley Adams was the pilot on this historic occasion, though the whole enterprise had been the brainchild of barrister landowner E W Wakefield of Kendal. This was one of the world’s first successful flights from water and is recognised as the first successful complete flight from water, and safely back again, in Britain.
The group photo shows, from left: Richard Raynsford (Wakefield's great great nephew), Civic Society President Barry Tullett, Mayor Allan Winrow, Peter Connon (author of local aviation history books), John Gordon (kneeling -Wakefield's great grandson), and Ian Gee (Lakes Flying Co Ltd).
Click on the word Waterbird below Download on the right hand side of this web page for more information about Waterbird.