The best places to go in the Lake District
We have hinted at the industrial history of the area yet mining was only one of a number of basic industries which once flourished. Even more superficial has been the reference to man's earlier influence on the landscape, not just in prehistory the Iron Age fort on Carrock Fell is by no means the most spectacular of the many survivals but also in understanding more recent effects, from Norse settlement to monastic colonisation and later agricultural changes.
Most important of all, we have seen little of the natural history of the area, from the formation of the landscape to the fauna and flora which it now supports.Perhaps the first lesson to learn is that the highest viewpoint is not necessarily the best. Dale Head, for all its merits, cannot boast any really satisfying views of the one cohesive element in this area of diversity, namely the lakes themselves.
And it is true that the best views of the lakes are generally obtained at mid height above the valley floor, in order to introduce scale into the scene, but below the mountain summits, where the true perspective can be lost amid a welter of distant and sometimes uncertain images.
Amongst many lower level views which are especially memorable one of the best is the sight of the Langdale Pikes and the central backbone of the Lake District from Sweden Bridge Lane above Ambleside, with upland pastures strewn with boulders and little rock outcrops making an effective foreground, and the rare jewel of Rydal Water in the middle distance. On a grander scale the prospect of the upper Buttermere valley from the banks of Sourmilk Gill, at the entrance to Bleaberry Comb and halfway up Red Pike, is just as satisfying.
Buttermere and Honister Path
Buttermere itself, a splash of dark blue in the surprisingly green lakeside meadows (thick with buttercups in spring) is backed by the massif of Robinson and, to the right of the road picking its way up Gatesgarthdale to the Honister Pass, the jutting spine of Fleetwith Pike, by no means the highest of Lakeland's mountains but from this angle one of the very best.
Undoubtedly the main attraction for many, typified by the view of Buttermere and Fleetwith Pike, is the interplay of fell side and water -the sight of the lakes in their mountain setting. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in the prospect from the top of Hallin Fell, small in stature and easily conquered but not easily forgotten.
The view from the rocky summit, with its spectacularly solid cairn, is remarkable both to the north, where the sylvan lower reaches ofUllswater are unfolded, and to the west and southwest, where the middle section of this splendidly scenic lake is displayed in front of Helve llyn and its acolytes.
Splendid though these examples of the special qualities inherent in the intermingling of lake and fell are, they by no means exhaust the variety which is the hallmark of the area. Neither do they do justice to the smaller, more intimate features of the landscape which are so important in explaining the attractions of the Lake District.
Troutbeck and Hawkshead
These subtler features range from the tarns, often merely glimpsed in shady hollows, to the major crags such as Dow Crag and, thrusting up startlingly in St John's Vale, the Castle Rock of Triermain; from the passes, many of them high and remote, to the more urban delights of settlements such as Troutbeck and Hawkshead; and from that most humble but essential of man's early contributions to the landscape, the packhorse bridge, to the industrial heritage of spinning galleries and bobbin mills, and indeed iron smelting sites and lead and copper mines. There is, too, the mystical the stone circles and burial mounds, for instance and the religious, with Viking crosses and medieval monasteries.
The Lake District tarns
The tarns need no introduction. The most indolent of tourists can see a number of them to advantage without stirring far on foot: Blea Tam, for example, perched between the two Langdales and with a stupendous 'backdrop of the Langdale Pikes, or Tarn Hows, this one manmade but nevertheless deservedly popular. The best of them need a little more effort, however. There is no need to go to the lengths of scaling Scafell to see Foxes Tarn, for this is an insignificant little pool (so too is Broadcrag Tarn, the highest tarn of all, away from the tourist routes on Scafell Pike).
It is worth persevering as far as the corrie basins, or coves, which nestle below the summit plateaux of many of the main fells.
Angle Tarn, below the black, brooding crags of Bowfell, is a well-¬known example on a very well used path into the fells; Stickle Tarn above Great Langdale, with its tremendous back wall leading up to Pavey Ark, is amongst the most visited; and for the sheer magnificence of the encircling scenery even this one is surpassed by Goat's Water, a classic mountain tarn in a rockstrewn basin below the tremendous cliffs of Dow Crag.
Not all the Lake District's tarns are so spectacular: quite a number, such as Scoat Tarn in the western fells and the much¬-photographed Watendlath Tarn, sit in comparatively wide basins, but nevertheless they add their distinctive and welcome contribution to the overall scene. Mention has already been made of the craggy northern buttresses of Bowfell and the astonishing rock wall of Dow Crag, and this is no coincidence; many of the outstanding crags in the Lake District rise dramatically and picturesquely above upland waters.
This is not universally the case, however. Scafell Crag rises precipitously above the stony wastes of Hollow Stones, and walkers will often see rock climbers at work on the crag. The famous scree shoot of Lord's Rake is here, between the crag and Shamrock Buttress, and though this is steep and treacherously difficult in places, it is at least accessible to ordinary mortals.
Pillar Rock obeys the same principles as Scafell Crag, rising sheer from the screeladen slopes of Ennerdale and being best viewed from a distance in this case preferably from Robinson's Cairn, a staging post on what is incomparably the best way to the summit of Pillar, blessed with a superb view of the spectacular complexities of the Rock.
Wasdale to Pillar and the Black Sail Pass
The route from Wasdale ro Pillar via Robinson's Cairn makes first for the Black Sail Pass, one of the finest passes in the Lake District, separating the deep Ushaped glaciated bowl of Mosedale from the desolate wastes of upper Ennerdale one of the remotest parts of the National Park. As with many of the district's other passes it is not only attractive but also of considerable antiquity as a through route connecting adjacent dales.
Its name, roo, is specially evocative but this applies to a number of others, such as Sticks Pass in the Helvellyn range, at its busiest when lead from the Greenside mine above Glenridding was carted westwards to the smelter at Brigham near Keswick, and named after the stakes driven into the ground to define the route when the track itself, rising to almost 750m (2,450ft) at the pass, was obscured by snow. The dales of the eastern Lake District are almost without exception connected by these ancient routes.
Kentmere and the Kentmere Valley
From Mardale Head, above the reservoir of Haweswater, two such routes, both used by packhorses in medieval times, ascend the flanking slopes of Harter Fell. To the left, the way ro Longsleddale lies over the Gatescarth Pass; to the right, a wonderfully scenic route runs up to the delightful tarn of Small Water, where there are some curious low shelters next to the path, before climbing to the sharply defined rocky defile of the Nan Bield Pass and dropping down, just as steeply and again over rough ground, ro the head of the Kentmere valley and eventually the hamlet of Kentmere itself.
Pack trains unbowed by the severity of the Nan Bield ascent could then traverse the Garburn Pass, following a route clearly defined by an outcrop of the relatively soft Coniston Limestone, on their way to T routbeck and the heart of the Lake District. The wonder of this route, outstanding by any standards, is that it can be followed at leisure by walkers nowadays.
Troutbeck the Lake District
The Garburn Road leads down into the village of Troutbeck, one of the truly exceptional villages of the region, with a scatter of 'statesman' farmhouses dating from the seventeenth century grouped around a series of wells along the valley side, and an attractive church away from the village in the Trout Beck valley.
The National Trust farmhouse at Town End packs them in, but any number are worth seeing, though very few still function as the centre of working farms. Hartsop, near the head of the Patterdale valley, is equally attractive but equally invaded by second home owners to the detriment of the fulltime life of the village.
Hartsop boasts a number of excellent examples of a style of architecture characteristic of the rural Lake District the external spinning gallery in which the yarn for much of the district's woollen industry was spun. The best surviving examples are those at Mireside and Thorn House, though there are others which can be seen in a stroll through the hamlet.
Spinning galleries at Coniston
Examples elsewhere include those at Yew Tree Farm near Coniston and Hodge Hill and Pool Bank, both on Cartmel Fell. Spinning galleries were perhaps the least industrialised forms of Lake District industry; the woollen mills at locations such as Millbeck, near Keswick, and Caldbeck the forlorn hulk of the mill is still hauntingly present here hint at the perhaps inevitable increase in concentration of an activity which had begun as a true cottage industry.
The mineral wealth of the district was perceived to be so important that Daniel Hochstetter and his teams of German miners were imported not without some local resentment to exploit the resources of the mines.
Copper mining in the Lake District
In the Newlands valley and, somewhat later, the copper mines which brought considerable prosperity to the village of Con is ton. Mining was of significant economic importance at several other centres, too, including Threlkeld, where the Gategilllead mine brought brief but substantial prosperity, and Glenridding, a village which to all intents and purposes owes its existence to the Greenside lead mine, tremendously successful at first but later a curse rather than a blessing on the valley when the Keppelcove reservoir burst its banks and unleashed a torrent on the unsuspecting village.
Nowadays, though the mines of the Lake District are disused, they are of considerable historical and visual interest, and not only geologists are attracted to sites such as Coppermines Valley at Coniston, the Carrock Mine in the upper Caldew valley in the depths of Skiddaw Forest and the Dale Head mine at the head of the Newlands valley the latter two in particular still combed by interested amateurs searching for specimens. And whilst the mines of the Lake District are no more, slate quarrying, which can trace its history as an organised industry at least as far back as 1643, when the Honister quarries were already in production, still continues at a number of locations in and around the National Park, and the granite quarries at Shap are still very much in production.
A brief survey of the industrial past of the Lake District, especially one concentrating on its visible survivals, must also include the woodland industries of the southern part of the district, such as the bobbin mills at Low Stott Park and Spark Bridge, the early iron smelting sites such as that at Cunsey and the later, more sophisticated sites at Backbarrow and elsewhere.
Above all, perhaps, it should draw the visitor's attention to the earlier industrial phase largely brought about through the initiative and enterprise of the monks.
From early-day industry in the Lake District, the Cumbria region now attracts millions of visitors each year, and there are a wealth of places to stay, including romantic hotels in Windermere, boutique hotels in Bowness, campsites overlooking the lakes and bed and breakfast accommodation in Coniston and Ambleside. Make the most of your stay by exploring the Lake District and visit some of the best restaurants in England, including the Michelin-starred L´enclume at Cartmel.
Most important of all, we have seen little of the natural history of the area, from the formation of the landscape to the fauna and flora which it now supports.Perhaps the first lesson to learn is that the highest viewpoint is not necessarily the best. Dale Head, for all its merits, cannot boast any really satisfying views of the one cohesive element in this area of diversity, namely the lakes themselves.
And it is true that the best views of the lakes are generally obtained at mid height above the valley floor, in order to introduce scale into the scene, but below the mountain summits, where the true perspective can be lost amid a welter of distant and sometimes uncertain images.
Amongst many lower level views which are especially memorable one of the best is the sight of the Langdale Pikes and the central backbone of the Lake District from Sweden Bridge Lane above Ambleside, with upland pastures strewn with boulders and little rock outcrops making an effective foreground, and the rare jewel of Rydal Water in the middle distance. On a grander scale the prospect of the upper Buttermere valley from the banks of Sourmilk Gill, at the entrance to Bleaberry Comb and halfway up Red Pike, is just as satisfying.
Buttermere and Honister Path
Buttermere itself, a splash of dark blue in the surprisingly green lakeside meadows (thick with buttercups in spring) is backed by the massif of Robinson and, to the right of the road picking its way up Gatesgarthdale to the Honister Pass, the jutting spine of Fleetwith Pike, by no means the highest of Lakeland's mountains but from this angle one of the very best.
Undoubtedly the main attraction for many, typified by the view of Buttermere and Fleetwith Pike, is the interplay of fell side and water -the sight of the lakes in their mountain setting. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in the prospect from the top of Hallin Fell, small in stature and easily conquered but not easily forgotten.
The view from the rocky summit, with its spectacularly solid cairn, is remarkable both to the north, where the sylvan lower reaches ofUllswater are unfolded, and to the west and southwest, where the middle section of this splendidly scenic lake is displayed in front of Helve llyn and its acolytes.
Splendid though these examples of the special qualities inherent in the intermingling of lake and fell are, they by no means exhaust the variety which is the hallmark of the area. Neither do they do justice to the smaller, more intimate features of the landscape which are so important in explaining the attractions of the Lake District.
Troutbeck and Hawkshead
These subtler features range from the tarns, often merely glimpsed in shady hollows, to the major crags such as Dow Crag and, thrusting up startlingly in St John's Vale, the Castle Rock of Triermain; from the passes, many of them high and remote, to the more urban delights of settlements such as Troutbeck and Hawkshead; and from that most humble but essential of man's early contributions to the landscape, the packhorse bridge, to the industrial heritage of spinning galleries and bobbin mills, and indeed iron smelting sites and lead and copper mines. There is, too, the mystical the stone circles and burial mounds, for instance and the religious, with Viking crosses and medieval monasteries.
The Lake District tarns
The tarns need no introduction. The most indolent of tourists can see a number of them to advantage without stirring far on foot: Blea Tam, for example, perched between the two Langdales and with a stupendous 'backdrop of the Langdale Pikes, or Tarn Hows, this one manmade but nevertheless deservedly popular. The best of them need a little more effort, however. There is no need to go to the lengths of scaling Scafell to see Foxes Tarn, for this is an insignificant little pool (so too is Broadcrag Tarn, the highest tarn of all, away from the tourist routes on Scafell Pike).
It is worth persevering as far as the corrie basins, or coves, which nestle below the summit plateaux of many of the main fells.
Angle Tarn, below the black, brooding crags of Bowfell, is a well-¬known example on a very well used path into the fells; Stickle Tarn above Great Langdale, with its tremendous back wall leading up to Pavey Ark, is amongst the most visited; and for the sheer magnificence of the encircling scenery even this one is surpassed by Goat's Water, a classic mountain tarn in a rockstrewn basin below the tremendous cliffs of Dow Crag.
Not all the Lake District's tarns are so spectacular: quite a number, such as Scoat Tarn in the western fells and the much¬-photographed Watendlath Tarn, sit in comparatively wide basins, but nevertheless they add their distinctive and welcome contribution to the overall scene. Mention has already been made of the craggy northern buttresses of Bowfell and the astonishing rock wall of Dow Crag, and this is no coincidence; many of the outstanding crags in the Lake District rise dramatically and picturesquely above upland waters.
This is not universally the case, however. Scafell Crag rises precipitously above the stony wastes of Hollow Stones, and walkers will often see rock climbers at work on the crag. The famous scree shoot of Lord's Rake is here, between the crag and Shamrock Buttress, and though this is steep and treacherously difficult in places, it is at least accessible to ordinary mortals.
Pillar Rock obeys the same principles as Scafell Crag, rising sheer from the screeladen slopes of Ennerdale and being best viewed from a distance in this case preferably from Robinson's Cairn, a staging post on what is incomparably the best way to the summit of Pillar, blessed with a superb view of the spectacular complexities of the Rock.
Wasdale to Pillar and the Black Sail Pass
The route from Wasdale ro Pillar via Robinson's Cairn makes first for the Black Sail Pass, one of the finest passes in the Lake District, separating the deep Ushaped glaciated bowl of Mosedale from the desolate wastes of upper Ennerdale one of the remotest parts of the National Park. As with many of the district's other passes it is not only attractive but also of considerable antiquity as a through route connecting adjacent dales.
Its name, roo, is specially evocative but this applies to a number of others, such as Sticks Pass in the Helvellyn range, at its busiest when lead from the Greenside mine above Glenridding was carted westwards to the smelter at Brigham near Keswick, and named after the stakes driven into the ground to define the route when the track itself, rising to almost 750m (2,450ft) at the pass, was obscured by snow. The dales of the eastern Lake District are almost without exception connected by these ancient routes.
Kentmere and the Kentmere Valley
From Mardale Head, above the reservoir of Haweswater, two such routes, both used by packhorses in medieval times, ascend the flanking slopes of Harter Fell. To the left, the way ro Longsleddale lies over the Gatescarth Pass; to the right, a wonderfully scenic route runs up to the delightful tarn of Small Water, where there are some curious low shelters next to the path, before climbing to the sharply defined rocky defile of the Nan Bield Pass and dropping down, just as steeply and again over rough ground, ro the head of the Kentmere valley and eventually the hamlet of Kentmere itself.
Pack trains unbowed by the severity of the Nan Bield ascent could then traverse the Garburn Pass, following a route clearly defined by an outcrop of the relatively soft Coniston Limestone, on their way to T routbeck and the heart of the Lake District. The wonder of this route, outstanding by any standards, is that it can be followed at leisure by walkers nowadays.
Troutbeck the Lake District
The Garburn Road leads down into the village of Troutbeck, one of the truly exceptional villages of the region, with a scatter of 'statesman' farmhouses dating from the seventeenth century grouped around a series of wells along the valley side, and an attractive church away from the village in the Trout Beck valley.
The National Trust farmhouse at Town End packs them in, but any number are worth seeing, though very few still function as the centre of working farms. Hartsop, near the head of the Patterdale valley, is equally attractive but equally invaded by second home owners to the detriment of the fulltime life of the village.
Hartsop boasts a number of excellent examples of a style of architecture characteristic of the rural Lake District the external spinning gallery in which the yarn for much of the district's woollen industry was spun. The best surviving examples are those at Mireside and Thorn House, though there are others which can be seen in a stroll through the hamlet.
Spinning galleries at Coniston
Examples elsewhere include those at Yew Tree Farm near Coniston and Hodge Hill and Pool Bank, both on Cartmel Fell. Spinning galleries were perhaps the least industrialised forms of Lake District industry; the woollen mills at locations such as Millbeck, near Keswick, and Caldbeck the forlorn hulk of the mill is still hauntingly present here hint at the perhaps inevitable increase in concentration of an activity which had begun as a true cottage industry.
The mineral wealth of the district was perceived to be so important that Daniel Hochstetter and his teams of German miners were imported not without some local resentment to exploit the resources of the mines.
Copper mining in the Lake District
In the Newlands valley and, somewhat later, the copper mines which brought considerable prosperity to the village of Con is ton. Mining was of significant economic importance at several other centres, too, including Threlkeld, where the Gategilllead mine brought brief but substantial prosperity, and Glenridding, a village which to all intents and purposes owes its existence to the Greenside lead mine, tremendously successful at first but later a curse rather than a blessing on the valley when the Keppelcove reservoir burst its banks and unleashed a torrent on the unsuspecting village.
Nowadays, though the mines of the Lake District are disused, they are of considerable historical and visual interest, and not only geologists are attracted to sites such as Coppermines Valley at Coniston, the Carrock Mine in the upper Caldew valley in the depths of Skiddaw Forest and the Dale Head mine at the head of the Newlands valley the latter two in particular still combed by interested amateurs searching for specimens. And whilst the mines of the Lake District are no more, slate quarrying, which can trace its history as an organised industry at least as far back as 1643, when the Honister quarries were already in production, still continues at a number of locations in and around the National Park, and the granite quarries at Shap are still very much in production.
A brief survey of the industrial past of the Lake District, especially one concentrating on its visible survivals, must also include the woodland industries of the southern part of the district, such as the bobbin mills at Low Stott Park and Spark Bridge, the early iron smelting sites such as that at Cunsey and the later, more sophisticated sites at Backbarrow and elsewhere.
Above all, perhaps, it should draw the visitor's attention to the earlier industrial phase largely brought about through the initiative and enterprise of the monks.
From early-day industry in the Lake District, the Cumbria region now attracts millions of visitors each year, and there are a wealth of places to stay, including romantic hotels in Windermere, boutique hotels in Bowness, campsites overlooking the lakes and bed and breakfast accommodation in Coniston and Ambleside. Make the most of your stay by exploring the Lake District and visit some of the best restaurants in England, including the Michelin-starred L´enclume at Cartmel.
posted by Windermere Boutique Hotels | 06:42
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