Lake District

 

 Lake District is a dream tourist destination for anyone visiting Scotland. Regarded by many as the most picturesque destination of the U.K, it remains unspoilt and refreshing break from the humdrum of city life. The lake District is a place where people live and work. It is a region with an identifiable culture of its own, its own traditions, its own customs and folklore and its own heritage. One third of those employed are directly dependant on tourism.

 The Lake District has a spectacular landscape with 16 major lakes and hundreds of tarns which were carved out of the landscape during the last ice age, all set amidst the highest mountains in England. The Lake District attracts some 14 million visitors each year, many from abroad in particular Japan and the USA. The park is cared for by the Lake District National Park Authority in partnership with other organisations. Tourism has now become the park's major industry, with Windermere Lake Steamers now the UK's second most popular charging tourist attraction and the local economy is dependent upon tourists. The negative impact of tourism has been seen, however. Soil erosion, caused by walking, is now a significant problem, with millions of pounds being spent to protect over-used paths.

Lake Windermere is the largest of the lakes in England’s Lake District National Park, 10 miles long and 200 feet deep in spots, and the heart of the popular tourist area of Cumbria. Cruising the lakes by boat has been a principal feature of touring the lakes since the Victorian age. Lake Windermere is in fact designated in Britain as a “public highway” for its boat transportation, once used to haul slate and copper mining goods, but now mainly tourists on scenic cruise boats, or ferries carrying auto and pedestrian traffic across its waters.

The first boats on Lake Windermere were sailing packets, until the first steamer, The Lady of the Lake, was launched in 1846. The English poet William Wordsworth who lived in the lakeland, protested the arrival of the passenger steam ship, believing it would bespoil the peaceful natural beauty of the countryside. One hundred and fifty years later, the steam ships which Wordsworth feared still ply the waters, but now allow visitors to enjoy this beautiful natural wonder in a style even the 19th Century poet might still recognize.

The Lake District thus, has become associated with many literary figures in particularly, William Wordsworth an  Beatrix Potter but more recently Alfred Wainwright, whose ' Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells ' has drawn many people to the area . First published between 1952 and 1965, these books provided detailed information on 214 peaks across the region, with carefully hand-drawn maps and panoramas, and also stories and asides which add to the colour of the area.