PLACES TO VISIT IN THE LAKE DISTRICT

However long you plan to stay in the Lake District, take your time to look around some of the quaint villages, famous attractions and wide choice of places of interest in the Lake District. If you are looking for a hotel in the Lake District, check out the spa hotels and boutique hotels in Bowness, Windermere and Grasmere.

THIRLMERE AND HELVELLYN

The A591 unfolds under the gaze of high fells. Castle Rock guards the entrance to St John's in the Vale on the left. The Dodds, crowning the skyline, are to the north of mighty Helvellyn. Steepness does not deter modern walkers, and Thirlspot Inn on the left is one of several starting points from which an ascent of Helvellyn might begin.

Thirlmere, 4 miles (6km) long, may be circum-navigated by the motorist. A plaque on the dam commemorates the beginning of work on the reservoir (22 August 1890), which grew from two small lakes, Leathe's Water and Wythburn Water. The dam holds the water to a depth of 50ft (16m) more than the level of the natural lakes. Thirlmere feeds the water taps of Manchester, some 90 miles (56km) to the south. At times of low water, the bare shoreline may appear unsightly, but the plantations are much more varied now.

DUNMAIL RAISE THE LAKE DISTRICT

Rejoin the A591 for a crossing of the watershed at Dunmail Raise. This ancient pass between Thirlmere and Grasmere has been improved for motorists by a stretch of dual carriageway. A cairn at the top, between the carriageways, explains the name of the pass. It marks where Dunmail, the last king of Cumberland, was defeated in AD945 by Edmund, King of Northumbria.

Dunmail Raise was, until 1974, on the border of Cumberland and Westmorland. There is a good view of the rugged 'mane' of Helm Crag (right) from the lay by on Dunmail Raise. Reaching the summit demands rock-climbing skill and nerve. Wainwright, in his pictorial guide to the area, left a space on which he might write the date of his ascent, but he never managed that last awkward bit. Coachmen driving four-in-hands from Windermere to Keswick entertained tourists by giving names to unusual rocks, the most notable being the Lion and the Lamb, at the southern end of the ridge.

The Raise allows people to hear as well as see further. In the early 19th century, during the Peninsular War, William Wordsworth walked up the Raise from Grasmere, at about midnight, to meet the Keswick carrier and the London papers. They had advance notice of his approach when Wordsworth lay on the ground and listened. De Quincey said this was so he might 'catch any sound of wheels that might be groaning along at a distance.'

GRASMERE AND WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Grasmere, the heart of Wordsworth country, has several large car parks, one of which is adjacent to Stock Lane and quite close to the field in which the Grasmere Sports have been held in August for over 130 years. There were traffic problems when Beatrix Potter visited the Sports in 1895, for she was a late arrival 'and had difficulty in finding friends among the crowd of carriages'. Lord Lonsdale, arriving via Kirkstone Pass in a yellow painted coach, took special interest in the Cumberland and Westmorland style of wrestling, on which he was an authority.

Wordsworth effusively wrote that Grasmere was 'the loveliest spot that man hath ever found' . Grasmere (the lake, that is, complete with island and rowing boats) lies in what he called 'a mountain urn'. The Vale of Grasmere is virtually ringed by shapely fells, of which the most prominent is Helm Crag. The novelist E.M. Forster, who stayed in the village in the summer of 1907, liked the place though he said 'it rains all night and every day, but not always all day.'

Lake District weather can vary, so always pack a light jacket or coat, even if you plan to visit in summer.Not only is Grasmere famous for once being the home of William Wordsworth, it also offers plenty for non-literary fans to see and do, and the town is full of small shops. The more studious visitors make for St Oswald's Church.

DOVE COTTAGE GRASMERE

Dove Cottage, home of William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy during his early, highly creative years, stands just to the east of the A591, in an area known as Town End. The quaint whitewashed cottage is now hemmed in by much later buildings. The Wordsworths had a view directly over Grasmere and on to the fells, as Dorothy noted in December, 1801: 'We played at cards sat up late. The moon shone upon the water below with his curtains open that he might see it.' Dove Cottage was the Wordsworths' home from 1799-1808. It was a time dedicated to plain living and high thinking. Dove Cottage is particularly appealing in cold weather, when a bright fire burns in the grate.

In the adjacent Wordsworth Museum, a barn conversion, a permanent exhibition recounting the Wordsworth story is backed up by special exhibitions. Dove Cottage has a reciprocal discount scheme operated with Rydal Mount and Wordsworth House at Cockermouth. Grasmere and Rydal Water are connected by a footpath along Loughrigg Terrace. The path can be reached directly from Dove Cottage along a causeway by the road that offers unhindered views of the lake and Helm Crag or via a wood called Bainbriggs, a favorite walk of the Wordsworths.

RYDAL WATER AND RYDAL MOUNT

Rydal Water, which is smaller than Grasmere, is a reedy lake, with several islands and a population of waterfowl. Red squirrels might be seen in the larches. The view for much of the year is given a ginger hue by the dead bracken fronds. Rydal Mount is at the head of the village, near the start of a footpath leading back to Grasmere. William Wordsworth lived here from 1813 until his death in 1850. A descendant now owns the house. After a brief introductory talk, visitors may wander around the house and a 41.1acre (2-hectare) garden, which was landscaped by Wordsworth.

Rydal Church, a 19th-century structure with a memorial to Dr Thomas Arnold, his wife and son Matthew, is adjacent to Dora's Field, which Wordsworth bought and gave to his daughter, Dora. Unhappily, she died and the field reverted to Wordsworth. Pilgrims in April walk between expanses of daffodils and narcissi if the sheep haven't got to them first. Rydal Hall, home of the Le Flemings in Wordsworth's day, is now a conference and study centre for Carlisle Diocese. The gardens are open to the public, and a footpath to Ambleside passes through the park.

THE ROAD FROM KESWICK

The road leaves Keswick to skirt Derwent Water, the 'queen' of English lakes, which has a maximum depth of 72ft (22m), but looks shallow. Near the head of Derwent Water, behind the Lodore Falls Hotel and accessible on payment of a small charge, are the Lodore Falls, about which Robert Southey wrote The Cataract of Lodore first asking how does the water come down then answering in a style which is now familiar to most Lakeland visitors, including: Collecting, projecting Receding and speeding, shocking and rocking and darting and parting.

A visit to the falls is exciting in wet spells. It is said that an American, after looking for them for several hours, sat down and asked a passerby, 'Say, where are the Lodore Falls?' They informed him that he was sitting on them!

GRANGE-IN-BORROWDALE

Grange-in-Borrowdale is reached over a narrow, double bridge. The be church is picturesque both inside and out. Go About a mile from Grange on the road running west of Derwent Water and you will come to Brackenburn, a private house that was owned by Hugh Walpole, author of The Herries Chronicle, three books published in the 1930s, about a Cumberland boy. Though private, its main features can be seen from the road, and above the garage, where he had a study decked by 30,000 books, is a blue plaque commemorating Walpole's association. To him, this was a 'little paradise on Cat Bells', the hill looming beyond. Water drawn from deep in the fell has the tingle effect of good wine. Grange is a good point from which to walk beside the river and through the famous Borrowdale oak woodland. The species of oak is the North Country 'sessile', a reference to the stalk less acorns. The River Derwent has a green appearance the water is pure and the bed of the river is composed primarily of pieces of greenish slate.

BOULDERS AND SCREE THE LAKE DISTRICT

Continue to where there is parking near a sign heralding the Bowder Stone, an enormous boulder with a length of 62ft (19m) and a height of 36ft (11 m). A wooden ladder with rails, fixed against the side of the stone, gives access to its summit.
The road continues between King's How and Castle Crag, which looms above the oak woods on the west bank and is best approached from Grange. Climbing its steep scree slope is not to be undertaken lightly, but with care visitors can reach a supreme vantage point with magnificent views overlooking the oak-wooded valley, Derwent Water and Skiddaw.

ROSTHWAITE

Rosthwaite, a village with a car park and toilets, has a post office with a village store that is popular with visitors. The village is at the start of a footpath leading over the fell to the remote hamlet of Watendlath. Of special interest, west of the river and between Rosthwaite and Seatoller, is the lovely oak woodland, Johnny Wood, in which there is a nature trail.

EAGLE CRAG NEAR STONETHWAITE

Stonethwaite to the left is a hamlet worth exploring, and walking up the dale for a short distance brings Eagle Crag into view. Rosthwaite and Stonethwaite were named by Norse settlers for the amount of stone lying about, aJi of which had to be cleared before cultivation.

The eagles of Eagle Crag were persecuted, as were ravens. Churchwardens' accounts reveal that a bounty was paid on dead birds. The traveler Gray, visiting Grangein Borrowdale in 1769, heard from a farmer how the previous year he plundered the eerie of the golden eagles: 'He was let down in ropes to the shelf of the rock on which the nest was built, the people above shouting and hollowing to fright the old birds, which flew screaming round, but did not dare to attack him'.

LAKE DISTRICT MINES

Mining was once the main industry in the Lake District, long before tourism had such a major impact on the area.The dale peters out at Seathwaite Farm, a mile south of Seatoller, left down a side road. The wettest inhabited farm in England, four generations of Edmondsons have farmed Seathwaite. There is roadside parking, a sheep farm, trout farm and a small cafe. A short walk from Seathwaite Farm is Stockley Bridge, a pack horse type bridge on the route from Borrowdale to Wasdale. There is also a track from Seathwaite barn across the valley to a river bridge, from which an approach may be made to waterfalls in Sour Milk Ghyll. On the hillside are remains of the old graphite mines (which must not be explored because of potential danger). When a pure form of graphite was discovered here in the 16th century, it had various uses.

Being rare and of practical value, including making metal castings and cannon balls, it was treated like gold. In the early 19th century, guards were posted at the mines and workmen were searched before they left. Graphite was eventually to be used extensively in Keswick's pencil industry.

SLATE QUARRIES THE LAKE DISTRICT

Fit men taking the Borrowdale Coach Round in the 19th century had to walk up Honister Pass from Seatoller. Canon Rawnsley, arriving at the head of the pass, saw Honister Crag, which' gleams at us as if some great earth painter had been grinding up grey slate and mixed it with emerald and begun to wash in his color from skyline to the valley bottom.' The slate quarried up here was composed of the compacted dust and ash from volcanic activity. A rough track now runs up the side of Honister Crag, and there is little to indicate that the whole fell is honeycombed by shafts and galleries. For a time, it was customary to pack slate on long sledges and run with the sledges down the screes to the roadside below. The sledge man then had to climb back with his sledge for another load.

Fell walkers park their cars beside Honister Pass when following a comparatively easy route to the summit of Great Gable On Remembrance Sunday, many gather on Great Gable to remember those who fell in two world wars. They stand beside a memorial to those members of the Fell and Rock Climbing Club who were victims in the conflicts.

Lake District hotels are among the best in England, and whether you are planning a romantic break, a weekend away or a week´s holiday, take a look at the spa hotels and guesthouses in Windermere, Borrowdale, Bowness and Grasmere. Campsites in the Lake District are also popular and you will find a range of accommodation close to the main lakes.