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England > Cumbria & Lake District > Lake District

The Lake District is perhaps England's most famous tourist region. It is a place of stunning natural beauty, no matter what time of the year you visit, but particularly in early spring, when the hosts of daffodils and bluebells cover the fields and woods.

It is little wonder that this lovely place provided inspiration to England's, if not the world's best known poets, studied in schools in almost all English-speaking countries.

Click on the headings to find out more: Tourist showpiece it now may be, but the fortunes of Keswick, (pronounced kezick) on the shores of Derwent Water derive from, believe it or not, pencils. The local graphite is perfect for forming the innards of pencils. You can learn a lot (perhaps more than you ever wished to know) about pencils at The Cumberland Pencil Museum. Gasp at the world's longest pencil - over six feet long. Wow!


North of Keswick's main square stands 18th century Greta Hall, once home to the poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge (The Rime of the Ancient Mariner), Robert Southey (The Story of the Three Bears) and their respective families. Coleridge and Southey married sisters, so saw a lot of each other. In 1803, the Southeys dropped in on the Coleridges at Greta Hall and decided to stay forever. The Southey's had seven children, so the atmosphere in Greta Hall was busy - and rather eccentric. Coleridge, temperamental and unstable, spent considerable periods in opium-induced trances.


Opium was the inspiration for Coleridge's Kubla Khan. After partaking of his favourite recreational substance, he nodded off while reading and had a wild ole' dream where he composed between two and three hundred lines of poetry. When he woke he rushed to his desk and started penning Kubla Khan. He'd just finished line 54 when a visitor arrived. When the poet returned to his desk, the dream had gone and he couldn't remember another word. If he had been born a couple of centuries later he would probably have written obscure rock lyrics for albums with psychedelic colours. On one occasion, to escape his creditors, Coleridge enlisted in the dragoons under the preposterous name Silas Tomkyn Comberbache.


Southey's writing career began when he was expelled from his school for writing, in the school magazine, an article criticising the custom of whipping the students. Schoolmasters considered regular sound thrashings good for a boy's character. Southey later wrote poetry and a verse drama called The Fall of Robespierre, but he is remembered today for dreaming up the kids' story The Three Bears, with its classic line: "Somebody has been at my porridge!"

Once upon a time there were Three Bears who lived together in a house of their own in a wood. One of them was a Little Small Wee Bear, and one was a Middle-sized Bear, and the other was a Great Huge Bear.

Sorry to break the news, but there's no Goldilocks in Southey's tale. Its heroine is a "little old woman". Goldilocks crept into the plot later - who knows where from.


St Kentigen's churchyard at Great Crosthwaite, northwest of Keswick, is Southey's final resting place. His tomb was recently restored by the Brazilian Government to thank him for writing a major history of Brazil between 1810 and 1819. This man of many talents was under no illusions about the financial rewards of writing. "It was well we should be contented with posthumous fame," he once wrote. "[It is] impossible to be so with posthumous bread and cheese."


People flood into Keswick today not for pencils or Southey's tomb, but for some of the world's greatest walks. The town dotted with dozens of little outdoor equipment shops, but you don't need specialised gear for many of the pleasant walks around here. Warm and waterproof clothing is advisable - it can get a bit nippy sometimes. Big expanses of the countryside around Keswick are accessible only on foot - which rules out off-road motorbikes, 4WDs (fortunately) and deters large tour groups... even better. The Back of Skiddaw, between Skiddaw and Caldbeck, is a great walking area. Skiddaw is Britain's fourth-highest peak at 3054 feet, but its contours are gentle and anyone of reasonable fitness can handle it.


Castlerigg Stone Circle is a great place to head for, and early dawn is an especially atmospheric time to choose. Erected about 4000 or 5000 years ago, Castlerigg is a Neolithic and Bronze Age meeting place every bit as old as Stonehenge, yet without the commercialisation and tackiness. Stonehenge offers you a motorway as a backdrop; Castlerigg offers you dramatic mountains. Castlerigg is an egg-shaped stone circle about 30 yards in diameter consisting of 38 volcanic standing stones. The circle once had an astronomical function - but the druids who could figure it out have long gone, leaving their stones behind them. To get there from Keswick, head northeast along Station Street, which becomes Station Road and crosses the River Greta, then take the minor road to the right and continue on for about a mile.


Other walks in the area include Castle Head, half a mile south, giving splendid, sweeping views of Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite Lake. A mile northeast of this, Latrigg provides an even wider panorama. At about 1200 feet, it's over twice as high at Castle Head. A pleasant two to three-hour walk to Latrigg Fell from Keswick (at a gentle/moderate pace - the distance is about three or four miles) starts on Station Road, heads past the Youth Hostel and turns right up Spooney Green Lane. You walk through the coniferous forests above Keswick, zigzagging your way to the top of the fell from the north (first skirting the west flank of the hill). Best way back is to follow the eastern ridge, heading through Brundholme Wood to Brundholme.


On Derwent Water's eastern shore, Friar's Crag offers yet more majestic scenery. Victorian art critic and writer John Ruskin (1819-1900) considered this spot one of Europe's best scenic viewpoints. "Mountains are to the rest of the body of the earth, what violent muscular action is to the body of man. The muscles and tendons of its anatomy are, in the mountain, brought out with force and convulsive energy, full of expression, passion, and strength." Ruskin, an erratic but capable critic, was a major influence on public taste in art in Victorian England. He is buried not far away in Coniston.


Ullswater - long, sinuous and astonishingly beautiful - is considered by many to be the finest lake in Cumbria - but competition for the title is fierce! Ullswater is less crowded than Lake Windermere and is one of four lakes with a regular steamer service, operating in summer. Two restored Victorian steamers putter back and forth from Pooley Bridge to Glenridding. You can walk along the eastern shore from Glenridding to Hallin Fell and the Martindale moorland. The western side passes Gowbarrow, where each springtime daffodil bulbs sprout and produce the blooms that so entranced Wordsworth. Remember how his poem goes?

"I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the Milky Way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance".

If you're not familiar with those lines, you haven't heard of Wordsworth! The poem is taught so universally in schools that many people grow up picturing Wordsworth as a hopelessly romantic figure leaping eternally through a sea of golden daffodils, waving a silk handkerchief. In fact, he was a complex character who supported the French Revolution fervently in his youth, (he saw it as a new dawn in which "to be young was very heaven"), yet who finished up electioneering on behalf of a right-wing member of Britain's Conservative Party. Moving to the right politically as you age is nothing new! Named Poet Laureate in 1843, Wordsworth managed to hold the title for seven years without writing a single line of official verse.
Coniston, once a mining village, offers inspiring walks along the shore of Coniston Water and by one of the area's most hauntingly beautiful lakes, The Tarns, a couple of miles northeast of the village.
The Ruskin Museum in Coniston tells the story of John Ruskin (1819-1900), described by Tolstoy as "the most remarkable of men - of all countries and all times". Ruskin's theories on conservation, architecture, care of ancient buildings, climate change and fossil-fuel pollution (he was convinced the Earth's atmosphere was changing) were a century ahead of their time. Yet his personal life was disastrous. He led a very sheltered existence before finally marrying his young cousin Effie. The discovery that women possess pubic hair shocked the sensitive Ruskin so deeply he never consummated the marriage. Effie ended up running off with the pre-Raphaelite artist Sir John Everett Millais. She divorced Ruskin for non-consummation in one of the great scandals of the Victorian era. Ruskin later went permanently raving mad. (You won't learn much about that side of things in the museum, incidentally, but it's worth a visit!)
Coniston Water is plied by The Gondola, not a Venetian job but an immaculately restored 1859 steam yacht, derelict for many years. The Gondola was rehabilitated by the National Trust and fitted out with luxurious upholstery. It runs four times a day until the end of October. A great, surprisingly quiet ride, but sit near the front to avoid specks of soot from the funnel.
Lake Windermere, with its 14 islands, is England's longest lake (10 miles) and an English gem - which is why it tends to be crowded. Windermere is the only lake in Lake District National Park where powerboats are allowed. It's filled in summer with water-skiers, small hovercraft and hundreds of Japanese tourists in paddleboats - with a passenger steamer called the Tern weaving among them. The good news is that the water-skiers and jet-ski enthusiasts, most of the powerboats and other loud and speedy craft will depart Windermere with the introduction of a 10 mph speed limit on the lake. The bad news is that the new speed restriction will not take force until 2005.
Bowness-on-Windemere boasts The World of Beatrix Potter, usually filled with Japanese tourists busy venerating Peter Rabbit. For Potter memorabilia, it's better to wait until Sawrey, not far away.
Ambleside, at the centre of the Lake District, is favoured by rock-climbers, backpackers and walkers. It can be crowded in high season but it offers great walks to the east and west of town. One of the best walks heads west out of town past Ambleside Church and then northwest across Loughrigg Fell. It takes about four hours. Another heads over Wansfell to Troutbeck to Stock Ghyll Force (force means waterfall, by the way) and then up to Wansfell Pike and down to Troutbeck village. There's a great pub in Troutbeck called The Mortal Man. The second walk also takes about four - but can be longer if you idle at The Mortal Man.
Rydal Mount, a 16th century farmhouse, was Wordsworth's home from 1817 until his death in 1850. Although not really a museum, it's open to the public. The poet's descendants still live there - their wedding photos adorn the walls. On one item of furniture, a notice warns: "Wordsworth Sofa. Please Do Not Use". At least Wordsworth was allowed to use it.
Cockermouth, one of the oldest towns in Cumbria, was the birthplace in 1770 of - guess who? Wordsworth, of course! His birthplace is open to the public, having survived an attempt in the 1930s to knock it down and replace it with a bus station. Cockermouth also boasts a ruined castle dating from 1134 - and Jennings Brewery, which gives tours and tastings.
Moorland Close, not far from Cockermouth, was the birthplace in 1764 of Fletcher Christian, lead mutineer against tyrannical Captain Bligh on the British warship HMS Bounty. Hollywood has had several cracks at immortalising the mutiny. After casting Bligh adrift, the mutineers sailed merrily around the Pacific having fun and leaving descendants on various islands, with British warships in hot pursuit. Christian finally landed on Pitcairn Island and little else is known about him. A persistent story in Cumbria holds that Christian left Pitcairn on the ship of one Captain Folger in 1808, secretly made his way back to Cumbria and visited relatives there in 1809. Well, shiver me timbers!
Ever heard of Mrs Tiggywinkle, Jemima Puddle-Duck or Pigling Bland? They are among many characters created by Beatrix Potter, born in 1866 in London. She bought a farmhouse at Sawrey (a beautiful whitewashed village on the west side of Windermere) with the proceeds of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. It was her first book and is probably still her best known. Peter Rabbit, who almost came to grief in Mr McGregor's garden, is certainly her best-known character. Potter, an accomplished artist and recorder of natural history, was also an ardent conservationist who donated her estate to the National Trust. Hill Top Farm, her home in Sawrey, is exactly as she left it - a condition of her will. They've done a bit of dusting in the meantime, of course. The village is divided into Far Sawrey and Near Sawrey.
Hawkshead, two miles from Sawrey, is another local beauty spot, a tranquil maze of cobbled, narrow streets, low archways and secluded courtyards. Cars are banned, wisely. The school Wordsworth attended from the age of eight is now a museum - you can even see the desk on which he carved his name. The school was founded in 1585 by a local man, Edwin Sandys, who went on to become the Archbishop of York.
Ulverston, centre of many fine walks, stands beneath a huge stone tower on the summit of nearby Hoad Hill. The tower is an exact replica of Eddystone Lighthouse in the English Channel south of Plymouth. It makes sense in the Channel, but why erect it here? Ah, mysteries of England! Stan Laurel, the thin member of Laurel and Hardy, was born here - but don't blame him for the lighthouse - he had nothing to do with it.
Horseshoe-shaped Newlands Valley is one of this region's most enchanting areas. Setting out from the village of Town End you can walk the Newlands Round, one of England's greatest walks. An easier version is to walk just the eastern side of the horseshoe rather than the whole Round. You traverse a north-to-south ridge that includes Maiden Moor and High Spy. From here, you can see the challenging route that author Samuel Taylor Coleridge used when he walked down to Grasmere - sometimes via Helvellyn - muttering stanzas from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner under his breath.

"Water, water, everywhere And all the boards did shrink; Water, water everywhere Nor any drop to drink."

Helvellyn is a bracing mountain to climb. Wordsworth climbed it at the age of 70 - boasting of the feat for the rest of his life. A retired policeman aged 90 climbed it recently. Samuel Taylor Coleridge was familiar with walks in the area - his frequent use of opium failed to sap his strength. He also wrote The Rime of the Ancient Mariner following an opium dream, which goes on for pages and pages. Almost everyone has a favourite stanza. Here are two of mine:


"He holds him with his skinny hand, "There was a ship," quoth he. "Hold off! Unhand me, greybeard loon!" Eftsoons his hand dropped he." and: "Like one, that on a lonesome road Doth walk in fear and dread, And having once turned round walks on, And turns no more his head; Because he knows a frightful fiend Doth close behind him tread."

The second quote is a bit creepy when recited at night in a dark place.

In non-poetic mood, Coleridge once wrote: "There are three classes into which all the women past seventy that ever I knew were to be divided: 1. That dear old soul; 2. That old woman; 3. That old witch."
"The loveliest spot that man hath ever found" - that's Wordsworth's effusive description of Grasmere, a delightful greystone, slate-roofed village beneath the 2003-feet-high summit of Heron Pike. Wordsworth spent 14 years here - he occasionally used to breakfast with Sir Walter Scott, inventor of the historical novel, at the Swan Hotel. The Swan, a 17th century coaching inn, is still there. In The Waggoner, Wordsworth asks: "Who does not know the famous Swan?" Wordsworth lived at nearby Dove Cottage and his three children were born there.
The Wordsworth Museum is just 25 yards away from Dove Cottage. In 1808, Wordsworth and family moved out of Dove Cottage and it became the home of their friend Thomas de Quincy, author of The Confessions of an English Opium Eater. "Thou hast the keys of Paradise, oh just, subtle, and mighty opium!", de Quincey wrote - but he conceded opium would never replace tea, a drink which "though ridiculed by those who are naturally coarse in their nervous sensibilities... will always be the favourite beverage of the intellectual."
St Oswald's Churchyard in Grasmere is Wordsworth's final resting place. He's buried in the southeast corner, not far from a yew tree he planted. In his poem The Excursion, Wordsworth wrote about St Oswald's Church: Not raised in nice proportions was the pile, But large and massy; for duration built; With pillars crowded, and the roof upheld By naked rafters intricately crossed, Like leafless underboughs in some thick wood, All withered by the depth of shade above.
On the Saturday nearest to August 5 (St Oswald's Day) each year, an ancient and colourful "rush bearing" ceremony is held, with villagers bringing gifts made of rushes and flowers to St Oswald's Church.
The Duddon Valley, a quiet haven of tumbling waterfalls and fern-covered hillsides, is the sort of place that might inspire you to write a sonnet. It inspired Wordsworth to write 34 of them.

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