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The Lake District
The Lake District
The Lake District in England's north west near Carlisle, is only about forty miles across. If you got up early you could probably walk across the whole area in a day. But as William Wordsworth, the Lake District's most famous resident has observed, there is so much variety in this small area that it is almost a world within itself: "I do not know of any tract of country in which, in so narrow a compass, may be found an equal variety in the influences of light and shadow upon the sublime and beautiful features" (Guide To The Lakes, 1810). Variety really is the key to the Lakes. There are pastures, pleasant hills, wild fells, peaceful lakes, isolated tarns, and busy resorts. The climate is extremely variable and different conditions can be found by driving a few miles.
Of all Wordsworth's poems I think the poem To The Small Celandine sums up best the big world that lies within the small confines of the Lake District. He sees a little yellow flower, and feels big things in the little blooms: "Little flower I'll make a stir, like a sage astronomer."
The Lake District has been a popular destination since the beginning of tourism in the UK. Thomas Pennant produced what was in effect the first tourist guide with his Tour of Scotland in 1772. This was soon followed by Thomas West's guides to the Lake District published in 1778, which sold in huge quantities. Both West and Pennant were scholars and had spent much time guiding young nobles around their Grand Tour of Europe. Now they were turning their attention to their own country.
The Lake District was part of the cult of Nature which grew up in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a cult that could only really become established once man's influence over nature had been confirmed. Previously nature had generally been viewed with suspicion or down right fear, since the natural world held so many uncontrollable dangers. The Lake District, for all it's well deserved fame as a place of natural beauty, is not a "natural" environment. If humans didn't live in Britain the Lake District would be covered in woodland. The original Wildwood in this area was cut down thousands of years ago, and the present appearance of the lakes has been largely shaped by the keeping of Herdwick sheep. The sheep crop the grass closely, and unlike cattle they put nothing back as manure; all the minerals they take from feeding goes into their wool. This process of taking a lot without returning much has left the ground open and prone to erosion. As Hunter Davis puts it: "After sheep have grazed heavily, land once fit for oaks, which is how it once was, is only good enough for bracken" (A Walk Around The Lakes P95). When the Forestry Commission came to plant areas of the Lakes with conifers there were complaints from conservationists. In reality the trees represented a more natural landscape than the one preceding it.
The Lake District is not a place of "natural" beauty: it is rather a place where man and nature coming together have produced a remarkably beautiful landscape. It is almost a Capability Brown park, a place looking natural, but the result of man's work. Indeed the beautiful Tarn Hows near Coniston, one of the most visited places in the Lakes, was created in the nineteenth century by damming a stream and joining together three swampy pools. The Tarn and all its surrounding landscaping are man made parkland. Although the rest of the Lakes show a more indirect human influence, their appearance is still largely determined by man. I like to think of the Lakes as Coleridge's fantastical world of Xanadu, a place full of measureless chasms and natural wonders, which are nevertheless part of the great Pleasure Dome built for king Kubla Khan. Conservation has always been a hot topic in the Lakes, with Wordsworth leading campaigns to stop the masses coming in, and Canon Rawnsley setting up the National Trust here. But the lakes are what they are because of man's activities.
You might also say that attempts to preserve the Lake District in the face of tourism, are actually given impetus by tourism. Attempts to preserve the lakes are made because they are considered beautiful by so many people. Hectic though it does get on a Spring Bank Holiday in some Lakeland spots, tourism might help to save what it threatens to destroy. If there was no tourism, then there would be a greater likelihood that the land would be used for something else, by an industry with less of a vested interest in keeping the place looking beautiful.
In his Guide to the Lakes, Wordsworth suggested starting a tour of the Lake District at Windermere. The railway ends here, which is the result of Wordsworth's objections to the railway going any further. Bowness on Windermere is the Lakes most popular resort with over ten thousand boats registered. Numerous water sports are on offer. In the middle of Lake Windermere is Belle Isle, which can be visited by a ferry. There is a circular Georgian house on the island. According to Wordsworth, Mr English, the original owner, was the first man to move to the Lakes for the sake of the scenery. The Brockhole Information Centre on the shores of Windermere is the National Trust's popular Lake District visitors' centre. This is one of Cumbria's most visited places. There is an adventure playground, a shop, a restaurant, gardens and information archive. Educational activities are also well catered for.
Contact: Brockhole
phone: 015394 46601
Wordsworth was sent to school in Hawkshead following the death of his mother. Wordsworth's first known poems were written to celebrate the bicentenary of Hawkshead Grammar School.
Hawkshead is right in the heart of the Lake District, beside Esthwaite Water, and within easy walking distance of Windermere and Coniston. Hawkshead is the most beautifully preserved town in the Lakes, with seventeenth century timber framed buildings and some impressive houses built for wealthy wool merchants. The Grammar School survives and is now a museum.
Hawkshead Grammar School has facilities for educational visits related to the Lakeland poets.
Contact: the Museum on: 015394 36735.
Hill Top Farm at Sawrey was the home of Beatrix Potter, although for much of Beatrix Potter's life Hill Top was more of a bolt hole than a home. She had been born in London in 1886 to very conventional middle class parents who did not think it proper to educate girls. Beatrix remained in her stultifying family home for many years into her adult life. Thankfully there were family holidays to relieve the monotony, and these were often taken in the Lake District. During her holidays Beatrix would find and keep pet animals. Peter Rabbit was one of her pets. She began to entertain the children of family friends with drawings of her pets and stories she made up about them.
It was during a holiday to the Lake District that the family became friendly with Canon Rawnsley. The Canon was the Lake's earliest and most passionate ecological warrior, and the founder of the National Trust. Rawnsely encouraged Beatrix with her drawing and writing, and in 1901 she turned to him for help with the idea of publishing a book of her stories. After being turned down by a number of publishers, Rawnsley funded the private publication of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. This event changed Beatrix's life. The book sold well and was followed by others. She now had some money, and decided to buy a pretty little farm she had seen on holiday in the Lakes with her parents. This was Hill Top, a place she could run to, escaping London and her family. For eight years she came to Hill Top, for a few weeks at a time, and most of her books were written there.
Hill Top today is a museum to Beatrix Potter. When she died in 1943 she left the house to the National Trust on the understanding that it would be maintained exactly as she left it. Original manuscripts are available for viewing.
Hill Top is an extremely popular tourist attraction. Admission is by timed ticket, and on the busiest days entry might not be possible. Try not to visit in school holidays.
Opening Times: from 15th March to 2nd November 10.30am - 4.30pm, Saturday to Thursday. The garden remains open from 3rd November to 24th December 10am - 4pm daily.
Access: wheelchair access to lower floors, and to part of the gardens. Contact the property before you visit.
Contact:
phone: 015394 36269
Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth on the 7th of April 1770. The Wordsworth's house is the grandest in the town, and came with the job of his father John, who worked for the powerful Lowther family. The house can be visited, and it is much as it was when Wordsworth lived there. The house is open from 12th March to 1st November 11am - 4.30pm Monday to Saturday.
Contact: Wordsworth's House, Cockermouth
phone: 01900 820884
There are wonderful walks around Coniston. At the head of the lake there is a view, looking towards the Old Man of Coniston, that Wordsworth loved. Most of the shores of the lake are owned by the National Trust or the Forestry Commission and are open to the public. There are three islands, and one of these, Peel Island, is the model for Wild Cat Island in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons. Coniston was the place where Donald Campbell was killed attempting to break the water speed record in his boat Bluebird in 1967.
Brantwood in Coniston was the home of John Ruskin, patron of the arts, painter, countryside planner, and admirer of women who were too young for him. The house is now a museum to his life and work. Brantwood opens from 10th March to 16th November daily 11am - 5.30pm, and from 17th November to 9th March Wednesday to Sunday 11am - 4.30pm. It is closed 25th and 26th December.
Contact: Brantwood:
phone: 015394 41396
web site: www.brantwood.org.uk
GrasmereGrasmere is where Wordsworth settled in 1799. He lived first at Dove Cottage, and after fulminating against the building of a new large house in the village, was forced to swallow his pride and move into the house, Allen Bank, with his growing family in 1808. It was at Allen Bank that the famous Lake Poet partnership between Wordsworth and Coleridge came to an end. After a period of wanderings, Coleridge had returned to the Lakes and stayed with the Wordsworths at Allen Bank for eighteen months. The final row is supposed to have involved Wordsworth calling Coleridge "a rotten drunkard" who had "rotted his entrails out of intemperance." In 1813 Wordsworth moved into his last house, Rydal Mount.
Both Dove Cottage and Rydal Mount can be visited. Dove Cottage runs an extensive programme of activities and tours aimed at families, schools and groups. For schools there are resource packs, workshops and guided tours. Much of this is geared towards the National Curriculum, which makes Dove Cottage a very good schools' visit. Rydal Mount, within walking distance of Dove Cottage, along the shores of Grasmere, offers guided tours. For more details click on the links.
There are easy walks around Grasmere, but the town is well situated for more ambitious fell walks on Scafell, Helvellyn, and Langdale Pikes.
Keswick is an excellent central base from which to explore the Lakes. Getting to the secluded western lakes, such as Wastwater, Ennerdale and Buttermere is difficult from Windermere, but fairly easy from Keswick.
Keswick has the world's oldest, and first, pencil factory. There is a popular museum dedicated to pencils, which contains the worlds longest pencil! There is also the Fitz Park Museum dedicated to the Lake Land group of writers, which contains letters and manuscripts by Wordsworth, Robert Southey, John Ruskin, Thomas de Quincey and others. The original copy of the children's story The Three Bears by Robert Southey can be seen here.
Keswick has many easy walks, the most popular taking a course along the shores of Derwent Water to Friar's Crag. There are memorial stones to John Ruskin and Canon Rawnsley. Cat Bells at the western side of Derwent Water is an excellent choice for an easy fell walk, or for people who have not done much fell walking before. Beatrix Potter loved Cat Bells. Skiddaw near Keswick is also a relatively easy walk, inspite of being one of the highest peaks in the Lakes. The top of Skiddaw, incidentally is the place where the Southeys, the Coleridges and the Wordsworths had a bonfire party to celebrate victory at Waterloo in 1815.
Tennyson was staying with a friend on the shores of Bassenthwaite near Keswick when he was writing his King Arthur fantasy Idylls of the King. Views of Bassenthwaite inspired scenes where the Lady of the Lake takes back Excalibur from the injured Arthur.
Coleridge, before destroying his health with drink and drugs, was a man of action. He would go out onto the fells for days at a time, and was the first non-Lake District resident to climb Scafell. He would sometimes climb Helvellyn at night (not to be recommended), and did so on the night he made his way from Keswick to Grasmere to read the Wordsworths the latest part of his poem Christabell. William's sister Dorothy cooked him a chop as he read.
Ennerdale was one of Coleridge's favourite places. This is the most westerly of the lakes, and as in Coleridge's day it is hard to get to. It is the only lake without a road, and getting to it involves parking at Bowness Knot, which is near the lake, and walking.
Coleridge would not recognise Ennerdale today, as it has been widely planted with conifers by the Forestry Commission
The Valley of Buttermere has three lakes where the fells come straight down to the water's edge. It is a beautiful area, and the five mile walk around Buttermere takes about two hours.
The topography of the narrow valley meant it was easy to defend following the Norman invasion of 1066. The English made Buttermere their secret headquarters following the invasion, and staged a counter attack from here. The Normans were never able to capture the valley.
Buttermere was also well known in the Nineteenth century as the home of the Beauty of Buttermere. The Beauty was a woman called Mary Robinson who was tricked into marriage by a confidence trickster, calling himself the Hon Augustus Hope. The police soon caught up with Hope and revealed him as a swindler who had many wives and fatherless children. The case was quite sensational, and thousands of people came to Buttermere to see the Beauty. Mary was daughter of the owner of the Royal Oak where she worked as a waitress. The story ended well for Mary, since the business the scandal generated for Buttermere and the Royal Oak was huge. Mary is mentioned, as the Maid of Buttermere, in Wordsworth's The Prelude.
Fell Walking and General Guides
The Lake District has many general guide books dedicated to it. If you are interested in walking the fells the best guides remain the Wainwright guides. Wainwright, from Blackburn, moved to the Lakes and spent thirteen years walking every fell. His handwritten guide books, originally published privately, are wonderfully individual, informative and entertaining.
Nobody can compete with Wainwright when it comes to giving advice on fell walking. I will leave final word on general guidance to walking in the Lake District to him. Just remember that Wainwright knew the fells better than anyone, and if you are new to fell walking you must take care, and take advice from your guide books on safe routes. Also be aware that the weather can be unpredictable, and even on a nice day you should prepare for cold at the top of a high fell. That said I'll hand you over to Wainwright:
"Comfort is the thing. Wear shoes or sandals or go barefoot if these suit you better. Comfort includes keeping warm and dry but ways of achieving it differ greatly... You see hikers starting forth for a day on the hills burdened as though they were starting a six month expedition to Antarctica. They are grim and anguished when they ought to be carefree and smiling. The fells are not monsters but amiable giants. You can romp over them and pull the hairs on their chests and shout in their ears and treat them rough and they won't mind a bit. Go amongst them as you go amongst friends."
