The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday
destination, it is famous for its lakes and its mountains (or fells),
and its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth and the Lake Poets.
The central, and most visited, part of the area is called the Lake
District National Park which was designated as a National Park in 1951. It is the largest of thirteen National Parks in England and Wales, and second largest in the UK (after the Cairngorms).
It lies entirely within the modern county of Cumbria, shared historically by the counties of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire. All the land in England higher than three thousand feet above sea level lies within the National Park, including Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England. It also contains the deepest and longest lakes in England.
Despite the name, only one of the lakes in the Lake District actually
contains the word “lake” in its name, Bassenthwaite Lake, the rest
being either “meres”, “waters”, “tarns” or “reservoirs”.
The location of the Lake District is approximately 34 miles (55 km) across. Its features are a result of periods of glaciation, the most recent of which ended some 10,000 years ago. These include the ice-carved wide U-shaped valleys, many of which are now filled with the lakes that give the park its name. The upper regions contain a number of glacial cirques, which are typically filled with tarns. The higher fells are rocky, with lower fells being open moorland, notable for its wide bracken and heather coverage. Below the tree line, native oak woodlands sit alongside nineteenth century pine plantations. Much of the land is often boggy, due to the high rainfall. The Lake District is one of the most highly populated national parks. Its total area is near 885 square miles (2,292 km2).
The areas of the Lake District
The mountains of the Lake District are frequently
named on maps as the “Cumbrian Mountains”, although this designation is widely forgotten and the area simply referred to as “the Lake District”.
North – The Northern area stretches from the Isel Valley to
Mungrisedale in an west-east direction and from Caldbeck to Keswick in a north-south direction. This area includes some of the Lake Districts highest fells such as Skiddaw and Blencathra and many smaller and lesser known fells such as Great Cockup, Binsey and Brae Fell. Bassenthwaite Lake and Over water are the two main bodies of water in the Northern section.
North-west – The north-western area stands between the valleys of
Borrowdale and Buttermere, with Honister Pass joining the two dales. This area comprises the Newlands Fells (Dale Head, Robinson, Catbells) and the ridge joining them. To the north stand Grasmoor, Grisedale Pike and the hills around the valley of Coledale, and in the far north-west is Thornthwaite Forest and Lord’s Seat. The fells in this area are rounded Skiddaw slate, with few tarns and relatively few rock faces.
West – The western part is the area between Buttermere and
Wasdale, with Sty Head forming the apex of a large triangle. Ennerdale bisects the area, which consists of the High Stile ridge north of Ennerdale, the Loweswater Fells in the far north west, the Pillar group in the south west, and Great Gable (2,949 feet / 899 metres) near Sty Head. Other tops include Seatallan, Haystacks and Kirk Fell. This area is craggy and steep, with the impressive pinnacle of Pillar Rock its showpiece. Wastwater, located in this part, is England’s deepest lake. Rising up around the Western Valley of Wasdale is Scafell Pike, England’s highest mountain.
Central – The central part is the lowest in terms of elevation. It
takes the form of a long boot-shaped ridge running from Loughrigg Fell above Ambleside—a popular tourist destination—to Keswick, with Derwent Water on the west and Thirlmere on the east. The Langdale Pikes, with High Raise behind them, are another feature popular with walkers. The central ridge running north over High Seat is exceptionally boggy.
East – The eastern area consists of a long north-to-south ridge—
the Helvellyn range, running from Clough Head to Seat Sandal with the 3,118-foot (950 m) Helvellyn at its highest point. The western slopes of these summits tend to be grassy, with rocky corries and crags on the eastern side. The Fairfield group lies to the south of the range, and forms a similar pattern with towering rock faces and hidden valleys spilling into the Patterdale valley. It culminates in the height of Red Screes overlooking the Kirkstone Pass.
Far-east – The far-eastern fells lie on the other side of Patterdale and are characterised by steep sides leading up to a huge moorland plateau, again on a north–south axis. High Street is the highest point on the ridge, overlooking the hidden valley of Mardale and Haweswater. In the south of this region are the fells overlooking
Kentmere, and to the east is Shap Fell, a huge area that is more akin
to the Pennines than the Lakes, consisting of high flat moorland.
Mid-west – The mid-western fells form a triangular shape, with the
corners at the Irish Sea, Borrowdale and Langdale. They comprise the Wastwater Screes overlooking Wasdale, the Glaramara ridge overlooking Borrowdale, the three tops of Crinkle Crags, Bowfell and Esk Pike overlooking Langdale and Scafell Pike in the centre, at 3,209 feet (978 m) the highest ground in England. Scafell one mile (1.6 km) to the south-west is slightly lower but has a 700-foot (210 m) rock face on its north face, Scafell Crag. The valley of Eskdale penetrates this upland wilderness. These fells are the most rugged and craggy of all, and consequently going is slower amongst the tumbled granite.
South-west – The south-western fells have as their northern
boundary the Hardknott and Wrynose Passes. These are particularly
narrow and steep, with tight hairpin bends. The Furness Fells
(invariably referred to as the Coniston Fells by walkers) stand between Coniston and the Duddon Valley, which runs NE-SW through the centre of the area. On the other side of the Duddon is Harter Fell and the long ridge leading over Whitfell to Black Combe and the sea. The south of this region consists of lower forests and knolls, with Kirkby Moor on the southern boundary. The south-western Lake District ends near the Furness peninsulas, which leads to Cumbria’s second largest settlement (Barrow-in-Furness). The Castlehead field centre is in this area.
South-east – The south-eastern area is the territory between
Coniston Water and Windermere and east of Windermere. There are no high summits in this group; it is mainly low hills, knolls and bumpy terrain such as Gummer’s How, Whitbarrow and Top o’ Selside. The wide expanse of Grizedale Forest stands between the two lakes. Kendal and Morecambe Bay mark the edge.
The Lakeland Fells
10 highest peaks – The 10 highest peaks (of those given an
individual chapter in the Pictorial Guides by Alfred Wainwright) are:
1.Scafell Pike, 978 m (3,210 ft)
2.Scafell, 965 m (3,162 ft)
3.Helvellyn, 951 m (3,118 ft)
4.Skiddaw, 931 m (3,054 ft)
5.Great End, 910 m (2,986 ft)
6.Bowfell, 902 m (2,960 ft)
7.Great Gable, 899 m (2,949 ft)
8.Pillar, 892 m (2,926 ft)
9.Nethermost Pike, 891 m (2,923 ft)
10.Catstycam, 889 m (2,917 ft)
Lakes
Only one of the lakes in the Lake District is called
by that name, Bassenthwaite Lake. All the others such as Windermere, Coniston Water, Ullswater and Buttermere are meres and waters, with mere being the least common and water being the most common.
Climate
The Lake District’s location on the north west coast of
England, coupled with its mountainous geography, makes it the dampest part of England. The UK Met Office reports average annual precipitation of more than 2,000 millimetres (80 in), but with very large local variation. Although the entire region receives above average rainfall, there is a wide disparity between the amount of rainfall in the western and eastern lakes. Lake District has relief rainfall. Seathwaite in Borrowdale is the wettest inhabited place in England with an average of 3,300 millimetres (130 in) of rain a year,while nearby Sprinkling Tarn is even wetter, recording over 5,000 millimetres (200 in) per year; by contrast, Keswick, at the end of Borrowdale receives 1,470 millimetres (60 in) per year, and Penrith (just outside the Lake District) only 870 millimetres (30 in).
March to June tend to be the driest months, with October to January the wettest, but at low levels there is relatively little difference between months.
The Lake District is also windy, although sheltered valleys experience gales on an average of five days a year. In contrast, the coastal areas
have 20 days of gales; while the fell tops may have 100 days of gales
per year.
The maritime climate means that the Lake District experiences
relatively moderate temperature variations through the year. Mean
temperature in the valleys ranges from about 3 °C (37 °F) in January to around 15 °C (59 °F) in July. (By comparison, Moscow, at the same latitude, ranges from ?10 °C to 19 °C/14 °F to 66 °F).
The relatively low height of most of the fells means that, while snow
is expected during the winter, they can be free of snow at any time of
the year. Normally, significant snow fall only occurs between November and April. On average, snow falls on Helvellyn 67 days per year. During the year, valleys typically experience 20 days with snow falling, a further 200 wet days, and 145 dry days.
Hill fog is common at any time of year, and the fells average only
around 2.5 hours of sunshine per day, increasing to around 4.1 hours
per day on the coastal plains.
Tourism
Tourism has now become the park’s major industry, with about 12
million visitors each year, mainly from the UK’s larger settlements,
China, Japan, Spain, Germany and the US.
Windermere Lake Steamers are Cumbria’s most popular charging tourist attraction with about 1.35 million paying customers each year, and the local economy is dependent upon tourists.
The negative impact of tourism has been seen, however.
Soil erosion, caused by walking, is now a significant problem, with
millions of pounds being spent to protect over-used paths.
Cultural tourism is becoming an increasingly important part of the
wider tourist industry. The Lake District’s links with a wealth of
artists and writers and its strong history of providing summer theatre performances in the old Blue Box of Century Theatre are strong attractions for visiting tourists. The tradition of theatre is carried on by venues such as Theatre by the Lake in Keswick with its Summer Season of six plays in repertoire, Christmas and Easter productions and the many literature, film, mountaineering, jazz and creative arts festivals.
Literature and artThe Lake District is intimately associated with
English literature in the 18th and 19th centuries. Thomas Gray was the first to being the region to attention, when he wrote a journal of his Grand Tour in 1769, but it was William Wordsworth whose poems were most famous and influential. Wordsworth’s poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, inspired by the sight of daffodils on the shores of Ullswater, remains one of the most famous in the English language. Out of his long life of eighty years, sixty were spent amid its lakes and mountains, first as a schoolboy at Hawkshead, and afterwards living in Grasmere (1799–1813) and Rydal Mount (1813–50). Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey became known as the Lake Poets.
The poet and his wife lie buried in the churchyard of Grasmere and
very near to them are the remains of Hartley Coleridge (son of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge), who himself lived for many years in Keswick, Ambleside and Grasmere. Robert Southey, the Poet Laureate and friend of Wordsworth, was a resident of Keswick for forty years (1803–43), and was buried in Crosthwaite churchyard. Samuel Taylor Coleridge lived for some time in Keswick, and also with the Wordsworths at Grasmere. From 1807 to 1815 John Wilson lived at Windermere. Thomas de Quincey spent the greater part of the years 1809 to 1828 at Grasmere, in the first cottage which Wordsworth had inhabited. Ambleside, or its environs, was
also the place of residence both of Thomas Arnold, who spent there the vacations of the last ten years of his life and of Harriet Martineau, who built herself a house there in 1845. At Keswick, Mrs Lynn Linton (wife of William James Linton) was born, in 1822. Brantwood, a house beside Coniston Water, was the home of John Ruskin during the last
years of his life. His assistant W. G. Collingwood the author, artist
and antiquarian lived nearby, and wrote Thorstein of the Mere, set in the Norse period.
In addition to these residents or natives of the Lake District, a
variety of other poets and writers made visits to the Lake District or
were bound by ties of friendship with those already mentioned above.
These include Percy Bysshe Shelley, Sir Walter Scott, Nathaniel
Hawthorne, Arthur Hugh Clough, Henry Crabb Robinson, Thomas Carlyle, John Keats, Lord Tennyson, Matthew Arnold, Felicia Hemans, and Gerald Massey.
During the early 20th century, the children’s author Beatrix Potter
was in residence at Hill Top Farm, setting many of her famous Peter
Rabbit books in the Lake District. Her life was made into a biopic
film, starring Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor. Arthur Ransome lived in several areas of the Lake District, and set a number of his Swallows and Amazons series of books, published between 1930 and 1947, in a fictionalised Lake District setting. So did Geoffrey Trease with his five Black Banner school stories (1949–56), starting with No Boats on Bannermere.
The novelist Sir Hugh Walpole lived at “Brackenburn” on the lower
slopes of Catbells overlooking Derwent Water from 1924 until his death in 1941. Whilst living at “Brackenburn” he wrote The Herries Chronicle detailing the history of a fictional Cumbrian family over two centuries. The noted author and poet Norman Nicholson came from the south-west Lakes, living and writing about Millom in the twentieth century – he was known as the last of the Lake Poets and came close to becoming the Poet Laureate.
Writer and author Melvyn Bragg was brought up in the region and has used it as the setting for some of his work, such as his novel A Time to Dance, later turned into a television drama.
The Lake District has been the setting for crime novels by Reginald
Hill, Val McDermid and Martin Edwards. The region is also a recurring theme in Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novella The Torrents of Spring and features prominently in Ian McEwan’s Amsterdam, which won the 1998 Booker Prize.
Film director Ken Russell lived in the Keswick/Borrowdale area until
2007 and used it in films such as Tommy and Mahler.
Some students of Arthurian lore identify the Lake District with the
Grail kingdom of Listeneise.