A group of leading Lake District chefs have come together for a week of dinners in a pop-up festival to raise awareness and funds in a campaign to save Lake Windermere from environmental disaster. Chefs 4 Save Windermere brings together a star-studded cast of the foodie region’s chefs headed by a team from Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume.
The Save Windermere campaign has warned that England’s largest lake could share the fate of Mar Menor near Alicante in Spain, which pollution turned into a “green soup” with rotting dead fish. This summer, holidaymakers at Windermere have been warned not to swim in the lake because of the threat of toxic blue-green algae, which campaigners blame on United Utilities and the Environment Agency.
The dinners will take place from under canvas in the grounds of Gossel Ridding, a country house near Bowness-on-Windermere with views over the lake, over six nights from Monday 11 September. There will be 100 seats available each night at prices from £77 a head plus drinks for the pub and barbecue meals to £225 for the L’Enclume dinner.
The week has been organised by Barney Cunliffe, owner of Gilpin Hotel & Lake House, who said: “It has been a pleasure to bring these amazing chefs together in support of Save Windermere. They have achieved excellence in part by sourcing amazing ingredients from Lake District farmers, who are supplying some of the highest quality sustainable produce in the world as well as working in environmentally sustainable ways to ensure our local environment is protected. This event is a chance to say enough is enough, and to give Save Windermere the financial resources to challenge United Utilities and the Environment Agency.”
The full line-up is as follows:
- Monday 11 September: Simon Rogan’s Lake District Restaurants (L’Enclume, Rogan & Co, Aulis Cartmel and Henrock) led by executive chef Paul Burgalières
- Tuesday 12 September: Ryan Blackburn from The Old Stamp House, Ambleside, supported by Steven Doherty
- Wednesday 13 September: Ollie Bridgwater from SOURCE
at Gilpin Hotel - Thursday 14 September: Craig and Shaun Edmondson of Brown Horse Inn at Winster (winners of Cumbria’s Best Pub & Bar in 2023)
- Friday 15 September: Richard Swale, with Anthony Amos from Allium, Askham Hall, joined by Ben Queen-Fryer from The Dog and Gun Inn, Skelton
- Saturday 16 September: Aakash Ohol of Gilpin Spice and Tom Westerland of Knipe Grill at Gilpin Lake House
Those who cannot attend the dinners are encouraged to support Save Windermere in other ways, such as signing its online petition. More than 275,000 have signed so far, including celeb supporters Steve Coogan, Lee Mack and Paul Whitehouse.
