Encouraged by Sir Hugh Walpole, whose own Lakeland historical novels were very popular at the time, in 1932 Size tackled another local Norse story, the supposed origin of the elegant cross at Gosforth.
Finally, about a year later, Warne published Ola the Russian, a longer novel in which the setting was broadened to include the whole Norse world, fictionalising the life of Olaf Trygvesson.
[2][3] In addition to expressing his genuine interest (he also wrote a learned paper on the remains of a Norse mill at Buttermere), the books were a means to promote the business; as a local resident later recalled "He'd do anything to make money."
In addition to arguing with such people (earning for himself the name Old Nick), in the 1930s he bought two pieces of land himself, the first being in the relatively flat area leading down to Crummock Water, which he developed as a 9-hole golf course.
Local opposition and the Second World War prevented him from bringing his grandest ideas to fruition: a Bavarian-style beer garden at the hotel, complete with brass band; a fully equipped service station for the growing number of cars visiting the valley; and even a chair-lift to the summit of High Crag, at the south end of the lake.