Redesmere Lake. Photo by Gary Tacagni.
Close to Capesthorne Hall in the county of Cheshire, U.K., can be found the lake known as Redesmere, this is a man made lake which was made in the eighteenth century as a feeder lake for the ornamental lakes of Capesthorne hall. The name Redesmere is thought to mean marsh or lake at a reedy place, and apart from being the home of Redesmere Sailing Club it is one of the few lakes that lay claim to having a floating island.
Back in the 1930s it was said that when the water level in the lake was low, that there appeared on the surface of the lake a mass of peat and aquatic vegetation known as a "floating island", similar islands have been known to occur on other meres, and on the Norfolk Broads, these are known as "Hovers", which ducks use to rest upon.
One of the things that sets this lake apart from others is that it has a legend attached to it in regard to the floating island, the story is as follows: A young Knight, a member of the Bromley-Davenport family that owned Capesthorne Hall and Redesmere, mistakenly believed that the Lady he was due to marry was being unfaithful to him behind his back, when he found out about this he was so angry that he swore that he would have nothing more to do with her until the island on Redesmere lake moved.
Shortly after he had said this he fell seriously ill and the Lady that he had accused of being unfaithful selflessly nursed him back to health, while he was recovering from his illness a tremendous storm tore the island from its roots and blew it across the mere, the young Knight took this as a sign that his fiancee had not been unfaithful and the story has a happy ending as they both went on to get married.
According to the Commodore of Redesmere Sailing Club, he claimed there was a floating island on Redesmere in its earlier days and it did move around the lake in high winds, it was mainly composed of peat and vegetation with trees growing on it, and he claimed that in the 1970s it grounded itself on the east bank of the lake where it can still be found to this day.
This story ties in well with the claim made by local resident Raymond Rush, an author and one of the last remaining people in the area keeping the tradition alive of making Corn Dollies, a tradition that dates back thousands of years, however he claims that he can still remember the chains which were attached to the island which stopped it drifting around the lake, this would have been in the 1970s and unfortunately over the years the chains have rusted away and no trace of them can be found. Even though the chains no longer exist they have given the island a chance to anchor itself in one location, they stopped the island drifting about and has allowed the trees that were growing on the island to put down roots which have attached themselves to the lake bed, thus allowing itself to anchor in one place.
So although in all probability the island had used to move around freely on the lake in high winds, and this is supported by old maps which show the island in a different position, it is a sad fact that the island seems to be a victim of its own demise in that it has ceased to float about, and although 40 years ago the story was a reality, it seems that once again this enigmatic island has been transformed into a legend!
This is a photo of the floating island which has now rooted itself and no longer moves around the lake. Photo by Gary Tacagni.
This is another photo which I took standing on the island. Photo by Gary Tacagni.
