England’s Lake District: “God’s Handwriting”

Story and photography by
Nancy & Eric Anderson 

The Lake District and its mountains sit top left on England like the country's hat, stuck there 500 million years ago when the Caledonian volcanoes exploded creating the land now known as the county of Cumbria. The eroded peaks form the present-day Lake District, an area so small you can drive through it in two hours. But who would want to?

This is a place of human dimensions. It has been called "God's World in Miniature." Villages pop up every few miles, with houses that have stood for centuries—slates forming the roofs and often the walls because it was so available. Below, the rich topsoil and the Lower Paleozoic core of granite, sandstone and highly cleaved slates lies an incredible 10,000 feet deep. Every turn of the road offers a new view of verdant green foothills and lakes shimmering in the distance. The meadows are kept groomed by constant attendants: sheep. "They are like a million lawnmowers," says the gas station attendant filling our AutoEurope compact, "and all those white washed houses that you Americans find so pretty were painted white so shepherds could see their way home in the twilight mist!"

What the sky holds is always unpredictable in the UK, a small island at the far end of the North Atlantic but visitors often get glorious weather in the Lake District—and great times too.

The area teems with old coaching inns and manor homes converted to hotels. Choices vary from the Sharrow Bay on Lake Ullswater which is gorgeous but an hour from anywhere, to Gilpin Lodge only 12 miles from the M6 Motorway and opposite a golf course. Where ever you stay, you probably don't need to book in advance if you come in early April or May but you'd want to book at least the first night any other time. Longtime hoteliers, Philip and Jane Butcher, former owners of the acclaimed Rowanfield Country House Hotel have now developed Grasmere Lodge Apartments, self-catering luxury apartments that let visitors live like the locals and really become immersed in this beautiful countryside.

"This is the land of William Wordsworth, one of England's most famous poets," says Jane Butcher, "and in spring the daffodils he made famous can be seen everywhere. And this is where Beatrice Potter placed Peter Rabbit and all her other farmyard animals that have delighted children for a century." Dove Cottage where Wordsworth lived and Hill Top, the Potter residence, are open to the public.

The Lake District offers garden visits, coach tours, railway trips—and cruises on Lake Windemere in steamers, steam yachts, launches and ferries. Nearby is Coniston Water, the lake that killed Donald Campbell in 1967 when he attempted again to break the world's speed record on water. Donald and his famous father, Sir Malcolm Campbell, captured 21 speed records for Great Britain, and a museum to their achievements flourishes in Flookburgh. Stan Laurel, the movie comedian, was born in Cumbria in 1890 and locals amusingly brag that the "only Laurel & Hardy museum in the world" is here. Locals make another boast, too—perhaps because Scotland, to the North, has 282 mountains above 3,000 feet in contrast to England's five, all in the Lake District: "Our Blencrathra is the oldest mountain in the world," they say. "Geologists tell us it was once 16,000 feet high and, now, it's worn down to 2,800 feet."

The area is compact yet the variety of outdoor activities is astonishing. There are, for example, 800 miles of footpaths and hill climbs of all degrees of difficulty from wheelchair-accessible walks to ascents on famed mountaineer Chris Bonnington's training grounds. The shop windows in Ambleside, one of the main towns, reflect this; the town has been called the "Anorak Capital of the World," and now showcases John Gaynor Sports, the largest outdoor clothing shop in Europe.

But visitors shouldn't be running around at a frantic pace visiting the 62 exciting places mentioned in the Lakeland guides. Nor expecting the wild animal farms, the children's fun parks or the water sports centers to be all that different from those in the States. The charm of  this part of England is the serenity it creates: walking across meadows, driving down country lanes, having afternoon tea in a lakeside tearoom and gazing in awe at the scenery—“God's handwriting.”

Despite the fact this place hums in midsummer there's a rather 1950's feel to the whole area. Yes, there are dynamic towns like Windemere, Boness and Ambleside but there are gorgeous unpretentious villages that are a delight to wander through. Two that must be visited are Troutbeck and Hawkshead. The first, clinging to the side of the Kirkstone valley with a million-dollar view, consists of a post office, two inns, two pubs and about 50 slate-walled homes. "Most of our houses are 15th or 16th century," says one of the innkeepers, "and we believe King John I slept here once. The Kirkstone Pass was on a royal route." A visitor points out King John signed the Magna Charta in 1215 so the dates don't work. The innkeeper grins and changes the subject.

Hawkshead is more commercial, more touristy but remains the most picturesque village in the Lake District. It has a long history: a Norse settlement existed there in the tenth century. The church is 15th Century and has wall paintings that go back to 1680. The Grammar School was established in 1585 and Wordsworth, the poet, was a student from 1778 to 1787. Most of the homes date from C17 and C18. Beatrice Potter lived two miles away.

The three best tourist spots in England after London, according to our British Airways flight attendants on our flight from San Diego, are the Lake District, the Cotswold villages in Shakespeare country, and the West Country. They're all different but have the problem of popular tourist locations the world over: the roads are crowded in summer. "Not only that," says Jane Butcher, "the lanes are one and a half car widths and carry two-way traffic."

The car rental company AutoEurope which gave us the best rates we’d seen for years for any car rental, suggests that renting an automatic may make life simpler for Americans driving on the left side of the road who're also changing gears with the left hand. But those comfortable with stick shift will find that manual drive gives more control on the many corners. Parking can be a problem in high season so don't rent a bigger car than you need.

England is expensive. You'll pay in British pounds what an item would cost in dollars in the United States. In restaurants and hotels the discrepancy is two or three times greater. But the natives are polite, they're fun to talk to, they speak our language and they like Americans. For further information contact the British Tourist Authority or the Cumbria Lake District Tourist Board.