When distant Windermere sparkled, we picked up our pace

In the latest of his reflections on ideas of place and pathway, Will Gore considers the joys of a journey’s end

The spectacular Windermere lake is more than 10 miles long (iStock)

When I was a child, we used to play a game on homeward bound car journeys – the winner being the first person to see the water tower which was situated on a hill behind our village. There was no prize bar bragging rights, but we played with gusto.

I didn’t appreciate at the time what a remarkable building it was. Built in 1935-6 (in red brick rather than concrete to blend in with the landscape), the dodecagonal tower rises to a hundred feet where its conical slate roof reaches its highest point. It is Art Deco functionality at its best.

Back then, it simply signified that we were nearly home – although, such is the flatness of the land in southeast Cambridgeshire that, from certain directions, a glimpse of the water tower could mean there were still a few miles to travel.