The Lake District
The Lake District, also known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes and its mountains (or fells), and its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth and the Lake Poets.
The central, and most visited, part of the area is contained in the Lake District National Park, the largest of thirteen National Parks in England and Wales, and second largest in the UK. It lies entirely within Cumbria, and is one of England's few mountainous regions. All the land in England higher than three thousand feet above sea level lies within the National Park, including Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England. It also contains the deepest and longest lakes in England.
Despite the name, only one of the lakes in the Lake District actually contains the word "lake" in its name, Bassenthwaite Lake, the rest being either "meres", "waters", "tarns" or "reservoirs".
The Lake District is approximately 34 miles (55 km) across. Its features are a result of periods of glaciation, the most recent of which ended some 15,000 years ago. These include the ice-carved wide U-shaped valleys, many of which are now filled with the lakes that give the park its name. The upper regions contain a number of glacial cirques, which are typically filled with tarns. The higher fells are rocky, with lower fells being open moorland, notable for its wide bracken and heather coverage. Below the tree line, native oak woodlands sit alongside nineteenth century pine plantations. Much of the land is often boggy, due to the high rainfall. The Lake District is one of the most highly populated national parks. Its total area is near 885 square miles (2,292 km2), and the Lake District was designated as a National Park in 1951.
The central, and most visited, part of the area is contained in the Lake District National Park, the largest of thirteen National Parks in England and Wales, and second largest in the UK. It lies entirely within Cumbria, and is one of England's few mountainous regions. All the land in England higher than three thousand feet above sea level lies within the National Park, including Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England. It also contains the deepest and longest lakes in England.
Despite the name, only one of the lakes in the Lake District actually contains the word "lake" in its name, Bassenthwaite Lake, the rest being either "meres", "waters", "tarns" or "reservoirs".
The Lake District is approximately 34 miles (55 km) across. Its features are a result of periods of glaciation, the most recent of which ended some 15,000 years ago. These include the ice-carved wide U-shaped valleys, many of which are now filled with the lakes that give the park its name. The upper regions contain a number of glacial cirques, which are typically filled with tarns. The higher fells are rocky, with lower fells being open moorland, notable for its wide bracken and heather coverage. Below the tree line, native oak woodlands sit alongside nineteenth century pine plantations. Much of the land is often boggy, due to the high rainfall. The Lake District is one of the most highly populated national parks. Its total area is near 885 square miles (2,292 km2), and the Lake District was designated as a National Park in 1951.
StridingEdge is a website dedicated to fellwalking in the English Lake District which is regularly updated and aims to capture the beauty and moods of this wonderful landscape. It is a photo diary of Sean McMahon's fell walks and contains details of the Lake District's 214 Wainwright fells and 541 Birkett fells. There are regularly updated photos and maps of walks with distances, timings, ascents and route descriptions. Each Wainwright and Birkett Lake District fell has its own information page which includes height details, fell grouping, accurate GPS co-ordinates and a summit photo.