Lake District
Above: Boats for hire at Friar's Crag at the northern end of Derwent Water. Right: The patchwork fields of Newlands Valley, with mist over Bassenthwaite Water in the distance
T
he Lake District almost always comes with certain adjectives attached: picturesque, tranquil, inspiring – “the loveliest spot known to man”, according to William Wordsworth.
No visitor to the area could dispute these labels, and yet the Lakes actually have more to offer than this sort of quintessentially English natural beauty. It’s an area that’s hugely diverse, both in its geography and its heritage. Covering an area of 885 square miles, and encompassing
16 major lakes, the Lake District is the largest National Park in England. It should be no surprise, then, that its various nooks and corners, while consistently gorgeous, have a variety of characters and charms. Landscapes range from rocky fells and tumbling waterfalls, to oak woods and gurgling streams, to open moorland and brackish tarns. And these contrasts render the area even more of a place to be explored and treasured. If you were asked to imagine a typical Lake District
scene, the area around Derwent Water and the Northern Lakes might match most closely with the archetypal image. The landscape here is peaceful and romantic, characterised
by shining, mirror-like lakes, breathtaking vistas and sublime mountain scenery. Derwent Water itself is largely National Trust owned, surrounded by lush wooded slopes and the promontory of Friar’s Crag, the ancient point of departure for monks travelling to St Herbert’s island. The Crag, which is easily reached from the shore of the lake in the market town of Keswick, also contains a memorial to the Victorian writer and artist John Ruskin, who loved this place, and described his first visit to Friar’s Crag, in his childhood, as “the creation of the world for me”. The particularly lucky visitor to Derwent Water may
also catch a glimpse of the lake’s intermittent ‘floating island’, a tangled mass of vegetation that rises eerily to the surface of the water from time to time, buoyed up by marsh gases from the bottom of the lake. The Northern Lakes also boast the charms of
Bassenthwaite and Buttermere, which are equally beautiful and, thanks to being well off the beaten track, even more tranquil. Northernmost of all the lakes, Bassenthwaite in particular exudes a special atmosphere, being practically untouched by settlements around its shores.
Northernmost of all the lakes, Bassenthwaite exudes a special atmosphere, being practically untouched by settlements around its shores
10 BRITAIN
www.britain-magazine.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100