[3] During the 19th century, Bowness grew from a small fishing village to a town living almost entirely off tourism and holiday homes.

It was the centre of the boat-building industry that provided the sailing yachts, rowing boats and steam launches used on the lake.

A large number of hotels and boarding houses gave employment to the permanent population of the town.

[3] The arrival of the railway in 1847 in Windermere (the residents of Bowness had opposed a station in their own town) provided much of the momentum for the growth.

Both Stagecoach and the local council provide frequent connecting buses from Bowness Pier; Stagecoach's open-top double-decker buses travel through the centre of town and continue to Ambleside and Grasmere, while the council's wheelchair-accessible minibuses run around the edge of town.

[10] Readers of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of books will recognise Bowness as the lakeside town of 'Rio'.