Homegrown Delights

The Lake District, Cumbria, is a region of incredible beauty famous for its stunning scenery, abundant wildlife and cultural heritage. The area is made up of beautiful towns and villages, ancient woodlands and forest, river valleys, lakes, mountains and simply stunning coastlines. Windermere & Bowness For many visitors, the Lake District is synonymous with Windermere, which is both the largest lake in England and its most popular. It has been a major tourist centre since 1847, when the trains first steamed into town carrying passengers eager for the fresh air and stunning scenery. Coniston Coniston village is especially popular with walkers and outdoor enthusiasts primarily because of its position – at the foot of one of Cumbria’s most popular fells, the Old Man of Coniston and by the western shore of Coniston Water, at 5 miles (8km) long one of England’s largest lakes. Grasmere and Rydal One of the Lake District’s prettiest villages is Grasmere, nestled in a vale just north of Grasmere lake and crowned by magnificent fells and mountains on all sides. This is romantic England at its purest. Hardly surprising that painters, poets, writers and craftsmen were drawn to the area. Wordsworth described the vale of Grasmere and Rydal as ‘the loveliest spot that man hath ever found’, before moving there permanently. Boating on Lake Windermere An autumnal view from Holme Fell to Coniston Water Dove Cottage, WilliamWordsworth’s home, Grasmere Lake District Towns & Villages Keswick Keswick is both the most northerly of the Lake District’s towns and maybe its best located: at the northern end of beautiful Derwentwater, it’s surrounded by large fells including Skiddaw and Blencathra, two of the most popular among walkers and hikers. It’s also the perfect spot to explore this part of the national park, notably the valleys of Borrowdale and Buttermere. Ullswater A strong contender for the most beautiful lake in England is Ullswater, a glittering jewel between Pooley Bridge to the north and Glenridding to the south carved out by a long-extinct glacier and flanked by some of the Lake District’s most eye-catching fells Hawkshead Hawkshead is a pretty market village marked by a jumbled collection of stone houses, old arches and squares that enchanted both WilliamWordsworth , who went to school here, and later Beatrix Potter, who lived at Hill Top, a five-minute drive away at Sawrey. 6