Welcomed First Guests to Low Wood

In spring 1953, we welcomed our first guests to Low Wood under the stewardship of Norman Buckley. Norman had secured the lease of the hotel after it became available in 1952, paying £310 per year. The reopening established the family hotel operation from which English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues would subsequently develop. Norman came to Low Wood from a family solicitors' practice in Manchester and was also closely involved in powerboat racing and water-speed record attempts on Windermere. During the 1950s, he set four world water-speed records in boats he designed and built, Miss Windermere II and Miss Windermere III. His association with both the hotel and the lake became a distinctive part of Low Wood's history. Initially Low Wood remained a leased property. In 1958, Norman and his brother Kenneth purchased the hotel and 73 acres at auction for £8,417, securing the property in family ownership.