A 90-year-old Lakeland children’s novel is about to receive its world-stage premiere at Bowness-on-Windermere.

Winter Holiday is one of the dozen stories Carnegie Award winning author Arthur Ransome wrote about his famous Swallows and Amazons children in 1930.

The story is based on his own wide-eyed, boyhood memories of watching Windermere freeze over.

In it the children attempt a sledging journey to their own ‘North Pole’ at the very tip of the lake. But their trek is dogged by fierce blizzards, mistaken instructions, and doctor’s quarantine orders.

“It’s a real adventure”, says Chris Eldon Lee, the BBC Radio 4 producer who has adapted the book for the stage.

“Will they make it, or will their plans spiral into chaos? My aim is to create a charming and entertaining family show, full of nostalgia for adults and homely excitement for children. We are being wholly faithful to the novel but have cast a dozen highly experienced ‘grown up’ actor/musicians, who are channelling their own inner childhoods to ensure success.”

The show features several new songs and a flurry of snow shanties. The production uses three sledges and snowfall effects - and features Ransome’s own child-like drawings as the scenery.

Peter Wright, chair of the Arthur Ransome Society, who has seen a preview, said: “It is a superb production.

“For the first time, the character of Arthur Ransome appears on stage himself and I loved the imaginative ending. It deserves to become a Christmas standard.”

When ‘Winter Holiday’ was published in 1933, it was so popular it sold 1,500 copies on the first day and over 5,000 in the first month. It’s never been out of print since.

This is the first time the book has been adapted for the stage. The play is being presented by Love Lee Premiere Productions at the Old Laundry Theatre in Bowness-on-Windermere on Saturday and Sunday, March 4-5.