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Bownessie ?

The terrifying “beast”, thought to be up to 50ft long, was captured on camera by two pals out kayaking on Lake Windermere.

Shocked Tom Pickles and Sarah Harrington told how the mystery creature swept through the still waters at ten miles per hour – creating a giant wake.

They claimed they watched it for 20 seconds before it vanished into the mist, leaving them to scramble 360 yards to the safety of the bank.

Astonishingly, theirs is the EIGHTH sighting reported in the Lake District in just five years.

Last night experts hailed the snap as the best proof yet that “something” lives in Windermere which – at 10.5 miles long and 220ft deep – is England’s biggest natural lake.

And, referring to Scotland’s own legendary monster of the deep, one lake ecologist told The Sun: “If this thing is as big as they say it was, we’re in Loch Ness Monster territory.”

Graduate Tom, 24, snapped the creature on his mobile while on a team-building exercise with 23-year-old IT company colleague Sarah in Cumbria.

They were near the Lake’s Belle Isle when they saw the “monster” 160ft to the south.

Tom, based in Shrewsbury, said: “At first I thought it was a dog, then I saw it was much bigger and moving really fast.

“Each hump was moving in a rippling motion. I could tell it was far bigger underwater from the huge shadow around it. Its skin was dark black or browny and like a seal’s – but its shape was not like any animal I’ve ever seen.

“It looked about the length of three cars. It was petrifying.”

Sarah said: “It was like an enormous snake. It freaked us out. All I could think about was that I had to get off the lake.”

Locals in the town of Bowness have reported sightings of a creature, affectionately dubbed Bownessie, since the 1950s.

Among them is lecturer Steve Burnip, who claimed an encounter in 2006. He said yesterday: “What I saw shocked me. It had three humps – and the likeness with this is uncanny.”

Lake ecologist Dr Ian Winfield, of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, said the creature could be an Eastern European catfish – but he added: “If that size is accurate, I’ve no idea what it is.”

Yet sceptics remained unconvinced by the “beast” last night.

Nigel Wilkinson, director of Windermere Lake Cruises, said: “We carry millions of passengers and none has ever brought Bownessie to our attention.”

Source: thesun.uk

Here is a video on the legend of Bownessie a lake creature much like the Loch Ness Monster. Many people have reported seeing Bownessie and this video will cover some of those sightings and reports. Bownessie is said to reside in the depths of Lake Windermere.

A TEAM of investigators will scour Windermere in a hunt for a legendary monster that is claimed to lurk in its deep waters.

The search follows years of reported sightings of a big creature in the lake, the most recent being in July when Lake District hotelier Thomas Noblett was hit by a three-foot wave as he was swimming.

A chartered boat will take to England’s longest lake on September 19 with celebrity and sports psychic Dean Maynard at the helm. He will be joined by Windermere photographer Linden Adams who claims to have seen ‘Bownessie’ – the nickname for the monster – from a viewpoint on Gummers How in 2007.

There will also be people with cameras dotted around the shoreline to capture any unusual activity.

“Linden Adams and I are really geared up and ready for the challenge ahead and we hope to find some concrete evidence something big does exist in the lake,” said Mr Maynard.

In 2006 The Westmorland Gazette reported how Huddersfield University journalism lecturer Steve Burnip, of Hebden Bridge, saw a serpent-like creature emerge from the waters as he stood at Watbarrow Point across from Waterhead.

He described it as being 15 to 20 feet long with a little head and two small humps following in its wake. He said it looked like a giant eel.

“I am absolutely convinced that there is a big creature in the lake,” said Mr Burnip. “I am really pleased that there is a renewed interest in it because I know what I saw.

“I can see it in my head now, this grey lump and the humps breaking the water like you see in the classic Loch Ness pictures. There is something in there, something quite big and elusive.”

Mr Adams, whose picture of the creature was studied by photographic experts after appearing on the front page of the Gazette, said: “I looked at it through binoculars and the naked eye and what I saw was huge.

“A lot of photographic experts have had the opportunity to look at the pictures and they are still baffled.”

Ecology experts have told the Gazette that catfish are sometimes introduced to lakes by anglers. They believe that what could be being seen is the Welsh catfish that originates from mainland Europe.

Source: westmorlandgazette