Windermere
- Maximus Nostramabus
- Aug 23, 2019
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 23
Lakes, forests, fells, Beatrix Potter & William Wordsworth - The English Lake District 422
What and Why
The Lake District is a scenic region in Northwest England, which is a very popular holiday destination. It is famous for its lakes, forests and mountains (fells, from Old Norse meaning 'mountain'). At the heart of this region lies Lake Windermere, the largest natural lake in England and one of the most iconic destinations within the Lake District National Park. The beautiful sceneries and dramatic landscapes have also inspired countless writers poets, and artists including William Wordsworth. The Romantic engagement with the Lake District generated new ideas about the relationship between humanity and its environment, including the recognition of harmonious landscape beauty and the validity of emotional response by people to their landscapes, perfectly bringing cultural and natural heritage together. The region exemplifies how nature and culture can coexist in a mutually reinforcing relationship, producing a tourist site that is both ecologically significant and culturally meaningful.
The whole areas oozes a romantic and honeymoon-like holiday atmosphere and millions of holiday-makers flock to the National Park especially during summer. Almost everywhere you sit becomes a picturesque photospot. The highest point of the United Kingdom, Scafell Pike, is located inside the Park, which stands at 978 m.
The main port of call is Windermere where the National Rail ends.
Toponymy
Windermere is thought to translate as 'Vinandr lake'. The specific has usually been identified with an Old Swedish personal name 'Vinandr', while the root '-mere' is Old English for 'lake'.
See
Lakes
The Park is officially 2,362 km² in area. It contains within it two major towns Kendal and Windermere where most of the accommodations are located. Most of the other places are lakes, forests and wildernesses. Technically there are 16 lakes, 53 tarns and countless meres and waters inside the Park, each of equal beauty.
The Lake District’s dramatic scenery is the result of complex geological processes spanning hundreds of millions of years. The region’s bedrock consists largely of ancient volcanic and sedimentary rocks formed during the Ordovician and Silurian periods. These rocks were later uplifted and folded through tectonic activity, creating the spectacular mountainous terrain that defines the area.
However, the most visible shaping of the landscape occurred during the last Ice Age, when glaciers carved deep valleys and basins across the region. As glaciers advanced and retreated, they sculpted U-shaped valleys, sharp ridges, and steep-sided fells.
The most photographed features of the Park are clearly the lakes, including Windermere itself. We mainly explored Windermere and were fully captivated by the beauty of the entire landscape, and we are talking about two grown men here.
Lake Windermere itself is a classic example of a glacial ribbon lake, formed when a glacier eroded a long, narrow depression that later filled with freshwater. Stretching approximately 18 km in length, Windermere is characterised by its elongated shape and varying depths.
This diversity of habitats supports a wide range of flora and fauna, including red squirrels, ospreys, and rare alpine plants.
Fells
We also ventured into Thirlmere, where one can find an exciting but easy hiking trail, with a good number waterfalls to explore.
Farms
What distinguishes the Lake District from many other natural areas is its status as a cultural landscape. Unlike wilderness areas that remain largely untouched, the Lake District has been shaped by human activity for thousands of years, as this area is heavy in agriculture.
Farming has been central to the region’s identity since prehistoric times. The development of upland pastoral farming, particularly sheep grazing, has influenced the appearance of the landscape. Traditional breeds such as the Herdwick sheep are uniquely adapted to the harsh conditions of the fells and remain an important part of local culture.
The farming system created a distinctive mosaic of open grazing land, enclosed fields and primitive farmsteads and barns. All these contribute to the visual character of the Lake District, as picture above shows.
Art and Culture
The Lake District is intimately associated with English literature of the 18th and 19th centuries, driven by the rise of Romanticism and increasing interest in landscape appreciation. The most celebrated of them all is William Wordsworth whose poems were most famous. Wordsworth's poem 'I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud', was inspired by Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Park and remains one of the most famous. Living for many years in the area, Wordsworth drew inspiration from its landscapes, including lakes, mountains, and rural life. His work helped to redefine how people perceived nature, as a source of aesthetic and moral value.
Beatrix Potter was living inside the Park and wrote many of her famous Peter Rabbit books in the Lake District. Potter lived in the Lake District and was deeply involved in farming and conservation. She purchased large areas of land through her book earnings to preserve traditional farming practices and later bequeathed them to the National Trust.
Experience, Buy and Do
Visitors to Windermere and the surrounding area can engage in a wide range of activities, like boating, hiking, cycling, visiting museums and wildlife observation.
Eat and Drink
Cumberland sausage
Local dishes include Cumberland sausage and roast lamb, and there are plenty of food stalls serving the delicacy.
The sausage is a pork sausage that originated from Cumbria, as blogged in Brampton, previously called Cumberland. It is traditionally very long, up to 50 cm, and rolled in a flat, circular coil, although now it is also being served in shorter version, as above from the food stalls, out of convenience. The distinctive feature is that the meat is chopped, not ground or minced, giving the sausage a chunky texture.
In 2011, the sausage was granted the distinguished Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status by the European Union.
Travel Suggestions and Logistics
National Rail does reach Windermere station, but that is about it. The rest must be driving. We drove all the way from Scotland and reach Windermere via M6 and then A6. There are a good number of national coach services inside the Park, but it deprives you of the freedom.
There is a beautiful coastal railway, travelling between Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness that allows access to many of the rarely visited villages. This wonderland can give you a peaceful getaway for a few days.
Clearly the entire Lake District is massive, and I have only spent a very short time in Windermere and its proximity. This blog is largely focussed on the landscapes of Windermere only.
UNESCO Inscription
Located in northwest England, the English Lake District is a mountainous area, whose valleys have been modelled by glaciers in the Ice Age and subsequently shaped by an agro-pastoral land-use system characterized by fields enclosed by walls. The combined work of nature and human activity has produced a harmonious landscape in which the mountains are mirrored in the lakes. Grand houses, gardens and parks have been purposely created to enhance the landscape’s beauty. This landscape was greatly appreciated from the 18th century onwards by the Picturesque and later Romantic movements, which celebrated it in paintings, drawings and words. It also inspired an awareness of the importance of beautiful landscapes and triggered early efforts to preserve them.
References
Comments
Please share your thoughts and comments about the blog. If you need suggestions to build a travel itinerary, please let me know. More than willing to help. I would also like to build a bespoke-in-depth travel community around UNESCO WHS and ICH.
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