This glorious island retreat could be yours-at least for a time. The National Trust's Derwent Island House, on Derwentwater in the Lake District, is available on a long let. This idyllic setting was probably what drew Joseph Pocklington, an eccentric Nottinghamshire squire, to build the Italianate house on the island, plus a boathouse, fort and battery. Nicknamed King Pocky by the locals, he held regattas on the lake at which he liked to fire off his cannon.
However, the buildings also fired William Wordsworth's wrath; he said that Pocklington ‘played strange pranks by his buildings and plantations upon Vicar's Island', as the place was then known.
The part-furnished house and the seven-acre island are available at £40,000 per annum, including a private boathouse on the shore and boats to ferry people to the mainland. The Trust is considering a lease in excess of five years. Telephone Carter Jonas in Kendal on 01539 814914 for details.
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