The Lake District
Honister Pass [click for our report...]

Lake District, The English Lakes, Cumbria, UK.
Lake District, The English Lakes, Cumbria, UK.

Honister Pass
Honister Pass leads from the beautiful Borrowdale valley to the Buttermere and Crummock Water valley. At the foot of the Borrowdale valley is the tiny hamlet of Grange, which has an attractive stone bridge.

Borrowdale plays host to the Bowder Stone. This is a huge “erratic”, which my Geography teachers told me is a stone totally out of keeping with its surroundings because it was left behind by the Ice Age. This particular one is about 12 metres high and a popular spot for photographers.

The Honister Pass itself hosts a wild, bleak road over the fells. I’m sure there must be times of the year when it isn’t windy and a feeling quite a few degrees cooler than everywhere else around it, but I’ve never been there then. It is worth it though, Buttermere and Crummock Water are lovely.

The Lake District National Park is one of 14 National parks in the United Kingdom. The Lakes lie 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 Park. The Lakes, as the region is also called, were made famous during the early 19th century by the poetry and writings of William Wordsworth and the Lake Poets.


Beatrix Potter and the Lake District

Beatrix Potter first visited the Lake District along with her family on their annual holidays. They rented a number of different houses during the summer months around Windermere and Derwentwater.

The success of her books enabled Beatrix Potter to buy land in the Lake District. One of the first was Hill Top, which has since become a famous literary shrine.

This small Lakeland Farm House and the hamlet of Near Sawrey form the the setting for a number of her stories.

The Tale of Tom Kitten and The Tale of Samuel Whiskers are based in and around Hill Top.

Hill Top is open from 3 April to 31 October, daily except Thursday and Friday, from 10.30 with last admission at 4.00pm.

Beatrix Potter married a local solicitor, William Heelis, from Hawkshead, just a few miles down the road from Hill Top. William's former offices are now home to the National Trust's Beatrix Potter Gallery.

The Gallery contains may of Beatrix Potter's original sketches, watercolours and manuscripts. The Beatrix Potter Gallery is open from 3 April to 31 October, daily except Thursday and Friday, from 10.30 with last admission at 4.00pm.

Hawkshead is one of the Lake District's more attractive villages. Howkshead is the setting for another of Beatrix Potter's books, The Tale of Johnny Town Mouse.
It was in Hawkshead that another Lakeland literary figure, William Wordsworth, spent his school days.

A couple of miles from Hawkshead is Tarn Hows, part of the 4,000+ acres of property that Beatrix Potter bequeathed to the National Trust. Tarm Hows is definitely one of the Lake District's most famous beauty spots.

A walk around the tarn takes about an hour, the path is also suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs.

A shuttle service connects Hawkshead, Hill Top and Bowness-on-Windermere.
At Bowness on Windermere you will find The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction, where the Lakeland tales are brought to life in an indoor recreation of the countryside.

You will see Peter Rabbit tucking into a carrot from Mister MacGregor's Garden and Jemima Puddleduck in a woodland glade. The Attraction is open all year except Christmas Day and from 12-31 January.

You can take a trip on a boat from Bowness on Windermere to Ambleside at the top of England's longest lake.

The boats pass Wray Castle where Beatrix stayed on her first family holiday in the Lakes.
The cruise is a relaxing way to enjoy the stunning Lake Ditsrict scenery.

Ambleside is also home to the Armitt Museum, which contains many of Beatrix Potter's watercolour studies of fungi and mosses. The Museum is open all year from 10.00 to 5.00pm.

A half hours drive north to Keswick and Derwent Water brings you to the location of several of Beatrix Potter's earlier books. The Potter family spent many summers in different homes close to the lake.

Agnos MRotator A
Produced using an Agnos MRotator Panoramic VR head, Canon Digital SLT Camera fitted with the Sigma 8mm Fish-Eye Lens, Kaidan QPXL-1 levelling unit & stitched with RealVIZ Stitcher Unlimited.

VR Photography produced with hardware and software supplied by Red Door VR Limited.
Panoramic view photography completed: 30/10/06 18:27:35 File Size: 608.4 KB

Last Minute Hotels in The Lake District, Windermere with Late Room discounts