Noting clues of iron in the landscape – Red Screes, Red Pike, Red Tarn – we visit an oak-shaded glade that was once a charcoal-burners’ platform, where coppiced timber was piled high then baked to create the ‘rocket fuel’ charcoal required to generate temperatures of 1,000+ degrees centigrade.

Moving upstream, we come upon an ancient bloomery, where hematite from Orgrave (literally ‘ore pit’) was transported, by boat then pony, to ‘bloom’ in the charcoal hearth before being forged into weapons and farming tools to help Cumbria’s medieval farmers eke out a marginal living.

Heading south, we visit the site of a 17th century bloom-smithy in the heart of Coniston, learn about the laws introduced to ban timber extraction as Lakeland’s woods were fed to the furnaces, and the journey of Cumbrian entrepreneurs into Scotland as home-grown forests were denuded.

Ending our trip in Furnace Wood (the clue’s in the name) above Duddon Bridge, we explore a network of ancient holloways and moss-reclaimed cobbled trails, remnants of a thriving woodland industry feeding Britain’s largest surviving blast furnace, where a huge waterwheel powered bellows heating a next-generation hearth to fulfil the insatiable iron needs of the industrial age.

Taking a long view of a lost, and neglected, industry, we seek out a slate wall melted by fire before reflecting on the zenith, then decline, of Cumbria’s iron age, when Barrow alone produced more steel than anywhere else on earth.

• The Duddon Furnace (with parking alongside) is located at Grid Reference SD 197 883, immediately north-west of Duddon Bridge. More details can be found at https://lakedistrict.gov.uk/explore/things-to-do/historical-places/industrial-heritage-sites/

• The first site we visited was in Lane head Coppice beside Tom Gill below Tarn Hows (SD 3221, 9989). It is around a two minute walk uphill from Glen Mary car park (National Trust).

Stepping into the Scottish Borders, we discuss the popular perception of the ‘reiving’ families who lived around this anomalous territory – the Elliots, Armstrongs and Grahams – and the raids that saw cattle rustled and fortified peel towers set ablaze.

Surveying moorland and scattered woods to rising Tinnis Hill, Graham outlines a parallel history; one of stability, in which a raid was not thuggery, but a coming-of-age ritual/form of trade in an advanced pastoral society with strict Border laws that kept the peace for 1,500 years.

Passing meadows with folds and dips that made ideal hiding places for rogues and raiders, we move into the mid-1500s, when the English and Scots crowns orchestrated a plan to carve up the Debatable Land by making lawlessness legal, preparing the ground for characters like ballad outlaw Kinmont Willie and the sadistic Duke of Buccleuch to conduct reigns of terror.

Closing in on Liddel Water, we learn about the end of the Debatable Land, and the “astonishingly beautiful and accurate map” (below) that recorded the establishment of what Graham argues is “the oldest detectable territorial division in Great Britain”.

Reflecting on the violent excesses that wiped the one-time grazing lands from the map, Graham discusses the long shadow cast by imperial colonialism, the persistent discomfort over cross-border marriage and the independent spirit that lingers in border folk.

We close with our quickfire questions, where Graham recalls a relationship-testing ascent of Swirral Edge, waxes lyrical about the definitive descriptions of Cumbrian rain in Rogue Herries and notes the advice he was given before moving into the borderlands – to “leave the pub by 9.30 at the latest”.

• The Debatable Land: The Lost World Between Scotland and England is published by Picador.

Visiting the church of St Michael & All Angels, Joanne introduces us to the Sandys family of Graythwaite, and Edwin Sandys, Archbishop of York during the reign of Elizabeth I, who founded the school to train new generations of clergy.

Arriving at the Grammar School, museum assistant manager Hollie Barker talks us through life at the school: the hours of Latin and scripture; the cock fights and sword fights; the strict rules that allowed boys (no girls) to smoke and drink, but never gamble.

In the confines of the school library, we learn about old boy and London vintner Daniel Rawlinson – great grandson of Daniel Hechstetter, the patriarch of Keswick mining – who founded the school's collection of priceless books, which includes a guide to dissecting elephants.

Finally, we turn our attention to the school’s most famous alumnus, William Wordsworth, enrolled into the school after his mother’s death, who excelled at maths and who led a seemingly idyllic school life ’midst the family trauma, with days off spent ice skating, visiting the Duddon sands and eating strawberries and cream.

• Hawkshead Grammar School Museum is open 1 April–31 October, Thursday–Monday 11am–4pm during term time, and daily 11am–4pm during school holidays. 2026 exhibitions are ‘Friends Before Fame’, about Wordsworth’s school friends, and ‘America 250’, highlighting the school’s links with America.

• More information about the museum and library conservation project can be found on Bloomberg Connects and at www.hawksheadgrammar.org.uk. New volunteers are always welcome; contact Joanne at hgsmuseum@gmail.com.

• The museum is hosting a series of evening talks, usually on the last Monday of the month. The talk on Monday 29 June is Mark Hatton (see Countrystrides past) discussing the history of Coniston Copper Mines and its links to the school. For details and tickets go to EventBrite and search for ‘A Talk at the School’, or see www.hawksheadgrammar.org.uk.

Battling weather on the harbour wall, we introduce Kelsick Wood, the Workington-born shipbuilder who travelled the world before acquiring the family yard at Maryport and starting the immaculate illustrated journals (excerpts below) that Simon discovered in a Greenwich archive.

Sheltering from the gale in a harbourside ginnel, we discuss the business of shipbuilding: the crafts required to bring together a finished brig; the unforgiving economics of timber imports; the impact of Cumbrian weather on operations; and the insurance stranglehold held for a time by London shipbuilders.

Retiring to the Golden Lion – where Kelsick spent many of his working hours entertaining potential customers and networking with the Maryport elite – we learn about the politically progressive family man who grieved the loss of a wife and six children, before winding down the podcast considering the numerous pressures which built on domestic shipbuilders – from overseas competition to the introduction of iron hulls – signalling the end of the age of sail.

• The Vanishing Age of Sail can be bought from Bookends in Carlisle and Keswick, and other local bookshops. It is also available from Amazon and Waterstones.

The gather: Pick of the Cumbrian headlines

• The spectacle of Donald Campbell’s restored Bluebird K7 on Coniston Water for the first time in nearly 60 years attracted thousands. A week-long festival saw crowds witness the iconic jet-powered hydroplane return to action (we told its story in Countrystride #161), with Campbell’s daughter Gina Campbell watching from the shore as K7 moved under her own power on the lake for the first time since its tragic final run – that killed Donald Campbell instantly – on 4 January, 1967. Although some visitors expressed disappointment that poor weather and “technical issues” hindered high-speed runs, festival organisers described the event as “mission and objective accomplished”.

• The Youth Hostel Association (YHA) has announced it is selling off three (more) hostels in Cumbria. 14-bedroom YHA Buttermere (£795,000), ten-bedroom YHA Coniston Holly How (£895,000) and six-bedroom YHA Coniston Coppermines (£400,000) are being offered for sale by Sidney Phillips estate agents. YHA (England & Wales) says the changes are part of a review of the charity’s operations “to provide a secure financial footing to enable everyone, especially young people, to connect with people, nature and heritage through hostels in amazing places for many years to come”. The move comes three years after the charity placed YHA Patterdale and YHA Eskdale on the market. The Covid-19 pandemic and inflation have led the association to cut the number of hostels it runs, but there is hope others may purchase the properties and continue to run them as independent hostels. More from Business Crack.

• Woodland paths enjoyed by generations of walkers have moved a step closer to being reopened after The Ramblers won the latest round in a long-running legal dispute over access in Hayton Woods. In 2010, local residents discovered fences, walls and barbed wire had been erected in the north Cumbrian woods as landowners Roxlena Ltd sought to restrict public access, claiming that a pause in use during the 2001 Foot & Mouth outbreak meant the paths should no longer be considered public rights of way. Sophie Redmond, paths manager at The Ramblers, said: “While people kept away from the countryside [during Foot & Mouth] to protect the livestock and livelihoods of local farmers, they never thought this would be used to take away their rights.” Virgin Islands-registered Roxlena told the BBC it would be applying to the Supreme Court for permission to appeal the verdict. More from the BBC.

• An unexpected population of wild beavers has been discovered in the River Lowther. Nature recovery programme Cumbria Connect has issued a statement confirming rumours that the animals – the first wild population of the semi-aquatic rodent in the county – have been spotted in and around the river. They also confirmed that the beavers did not originate from the Lowther enclosure, where a population has lived since being introduced under license in 2020. “There is evidence the beavers do not originate from the Lowther enclosure,” the organisation said in a statement, “and must have been released illegally. Their origins are not known.” Martin Varley, Programme Manager at Cumbria Connect, added: “Cumbria Connect does not support illegal wildlife releases and believes species recovery must take place through responsible, licensed and transparent processes involving local communities, statutory agencies and land managers.”

• Meanwhile, farmers in northern England have expressed concerns about the possible reintroduction of white-tailed eagles. Following news that the Lifescape Project was investigating the practicalities of reintroducing the bird in Cumbria – “if there is an area where white-tailed eagles can live, if it’s practically possible, and if local people are accepting of the bird back in the landscape” – a survey by the National Farmers’ Union revealed that 85% of farmers asked opposed the move. There are already plans in place – awaiting a Natural Resources Wales license – to return eagles to South-East Wales and the Severn Estuary.

• Campaigners opposed to the removal of a weir that would have lowered the level of Crummock Water have welcomed the withdrawal of plans by United Utilities (UU). The largest lake re-naturalisation project in the UK had already been paused following 300 letters of objection and a petition featuring 11,000 names. A spokesperson for the campaign group Friends of Crummock said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for UU to work with landowners, business owners and the local community to create a scheme that enhances nature and doesn’t destroy it, improves our access rather than taking it away, and helps manage the flooding that was so devastating to Cockermouth in 2009 and 2015.” UU are reported to be working on a revised proposal for release later this year.

• Kim Collison has added a new ultra record to his tally after beating Joss Naylor’s Lakes, Meres and Waters time by more than 20 minutes. The fastest known time on the 105-mile endurance run that visits 26 bodies of Lakeland water was set by ‘king of the fells’ Joss back in 1983 (we spoke to him about it in Countrystride #64). 45-year-old Kim from Mungrisdale completed the route in a time of 18 hours, 50 minutes and 34 seconds, a year after his triumph at the Winter Spine. “It’s a phenomenal run,” said Kim of the route, “but I can see why nobody else has tried to chase [the record]”. More from the BBC.

• … And Rob Harrison has set a new course record at the Brathay 10in10 after completing ten consecutive marathons around Windermere in a cumulative time of 28 hours, 14 minutes and 19 seconds. He also broke the Brathay 10in10 lap record with a time of 2 hours, 39 minutes and 45 seconds. More from Cumbria Crack.

• Kendal’s annual Torchlight Festival will not be held this year. “After much careful thought, we’ve made the difficult but responsible decision to postpone Kendal Torchlight for 2026,” the organisers said in a statement. “Rising operational costs and reduced confirmed funding mean we cannot deliver the safe, vibrant event our community deserves this year.” The announcement comes after volunteers confirmed they would not be putting up Christmas lights in Windermere and Bowness and Keswick Town Council voted for a scaled-back lights switch on. More from Cumbria Crack.

• An open letter has been sent to the Government calling for action to tackle the number of holiday lets and second homes in the Lake District. Landscape charity Friends of the Lake District (FLD), parish councils and community groups have written a joint letter to Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, calling for the government to take steps to redress the balance between tourist accommodation in the national park and the housing needs of residents. The call follows research commissioned by the charity earlier this year which found that 92% of the 4,546 holiday lets in the Lake District were suitable for use as permanent homes. Michael Hill, outgoing CEO of FLD, said: “Holiday lets and second homes are underused and often empty. All the while local people cannot access affordable housing and are priced out of the areas that they grew up in.” Campaigners want to see a mandatory registration and licensing scheme introduced for short-term holiday lets. At the moment, any property owner can convert an existing home into a holiday let or second home without seeking planning permission. More from Cumbria Crack.

• The temperature of Windermere has risen by 1.5 degrees centigrade in less than 80 years, according to the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Researchers from the organisation – which has been monitoring the lake’s surface temperature since 1947 – reported progressive warming alongside lower oxygen concentrations at depth. “We’re seeing the clearest signals yet that the Cumbrian lakes are heating up,” Dr Stephen Thackeray told the BBC.

• A sapling from Sycamore Gap has been planted in the grounds of Wray Castle (above). It is one of 15 gifted to the country’s 15 national parks. More from Cumbria Crack.

• A building that was once a railway station in Barrow has been listed among the UK’s top ten endangered buildings. The Victorian Society says it is concerned for the future of the former Strand Railway Station on Cavendish Dock Road.

• Grasmere has been named the UK’s “fastest-growing travel hotspot” for summer 2026 by TripAdvisor, according to Manchester Evening News, and the Lake District is almost as entertaining to kids as Walt Disney World in Florida, Universal Orlando Resort and Disneyland Paris, if you believe the Banish Boredom Index.

• Hill farmers with commons grazing rights have found themselves excluded from future agri-environment schemes because of issues with computer software. DEFRA has confirmed there is no mechanism to include common land in 2026 Sustainable Farming Incentive or Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreements. Both DEFRA and the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) have blamed the issue on the Rural Payments Service, which cannot process applications for common land or shared grazing. There are currently no plans to introduce the necessary functionality this year or to offer an offline workaround. Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron said on X: “This is a disaster for hill farmers, our environment, and our tourism economy.”

• Electricity, not weedkiller, will be used in a trial to control weeds in parts of Cumbria. More from Cumbria Crack.

• Dave and Mark from the Countrystride podcast have been battling fitness challenges. Dave is back walking between Land’s End and John o’Groats after a flared tendon stopped earlier play (you can view his live blog photo updates in the Hefted Notes), while Mark was making “great progress” on his new Ride and Stride the Fellranger Round guidebook until he, too, was forced out of action. “The last day of the month brought me to a grinding halt in a way that many of my age will be aware... urine retention,” says Mark (on Bluesky here). Fortunately, we’ve got a lovely pod in the bag on the golden age of sail in Maryport, coming soon…

• The Lake District National Park is 75-years old/young. Our friend and fellow Substacker Ronald Turnbull joins the celebrations…

  About Mountains

  Lake District : happy 75th!

  And note, I do not refer to the “English” Lake District. The RAF is the original air force; Royal Mail is the first ever postal service and doesn’t need the UK's name on it. And the country of Cumberland is the original and only Lake District, of which all the rest are Johnny-come-lately imitations…

  Read more

  4 months ago · 8 likes · 1 comment · Ronald Turnbull

• The Wasdale shuttle bus is back, running every Saturday, Sunday and bank holiday until August 31.

• Lake District Hotels, which owns several properties across Cumbria (including its new addition, the Patterdale Hotel), has submitted plans to add new facilities at the Lodore Falls Hotel. A new sauna, external terrace, two new spa pools and a cold plunge pool are included in the development. More from The Westmorland Gazette.

• Support team vehicles used in the Tour de France will be accommodated in Keswick car parks, meaning parking will be restricted when the event comes to Cumbria next year. “There will be a huge requirement to accommodate the multitude of vehicles required to service the event,” Cllr Steve Harwood told the April meeting of Keswick Town Council. “This will inevitably take up a high proportion of parking spaces within the town and consideration is being given to park and ride options for visitors.” More from The Keswick Reminder.

• And finally… faced with an opportunity to choose the name of their new leisure centre, the people of Millom have chosen… Millom Leisure Centre. More from the BBC.

‘Roving Laker’ Harriet Martineau’s Complete Guide to the English Lakes (1855) was among the first to speak to fell-walkers, Liz tells us, with an ascent description of Fairfield that was – like the woman herself – quietly revolutionary.

On the long climb of Cat Gill we discuss the forgotten Victorian colossus of Keswick, Henry Irwin Jenkinson, who compiled the most authoritative guide of its era, his Practical Guide to the English Lake District (1872), in just seven winter months (he would go on to consult on mountain rescues, and organise the Latrigg Fell Mass Trespass of 1887).

Entering the age of M. J. B. Baddeley, we turn to his evergreen (tiny type) Thorough Guide to The English Lake District – first published in 1880 and still selling nearly a century later. We consider the democratisation of travel, and walking, in the age of rail, and the changing nature of the guidebook, as fells received dedicated chapters and publishers augmented directions with maps.

Atop breezy Walla Crag we talk about the contribution of The Rev. H. H. Symonds – committed to “rescuing scraps of natural beauty” – who published a kind of ‘campaigning guidebook’ in his classic highbrow Walking in the Lake District (1933), and the very different books of his contemporary, outdoors advocate W. T. Palmer, who urged readers to get off the beaten track and take walking tours between youth hostels in his Penguin Guide, The Lake District (1939).

Finally, on Falcon Crag, after a discussion of Walter Poucher’s photographic guides, we arrive at the master himself, Alfred Wainwright, whose uniquely artisanal take on the format turned the guidebook into companionable pocket art.

Back at Ashness Bridge, we reflect on the factors that make for the perfect guidebook – portable, easy to use, with an intuitive blend of text and imagery – and ask Liz to name her favourite guidebook; to consider where guidebooks go in the post-AW digital age; and to tell us why Steeple remains aloof in her 214 completer’s list.

Photos: Tom McNally. Words: David Felton.

All is peace now in the valley of High Rannerdale, a scattering of photographers awaiting sunset on this balmy May evening. Lenses are changed, tripods extended, camera settings adjusted as ravens call above the still-verdant spring growth on thorn, oak and ash.

Too soon the dusk ends, sun dipping below the east wall of Mellbreak, gorse flaring briefly gold as shadows lengthen on Rannerdale Knotts and the houselights dim on a carpet of bluebells that bring magic to this remote western dale each spring.

Along the snaking valley paths, shutters fall as another year’s display is caught on film and memory card. It is a sight like no other in Lakeland, which draws crowds in such numbers that the National Trust erect trail-side ropes to protect the sea of blue.

While Rannerdale of the digital age has acquired the inevitable ‘Bluebell Valley’ epithet, locals know it by a different, older, name. This is the Secret Valley, a marketeer’s fever dream of last-stand heroism, where flowers bloom from the blood of the dead.

The search for little norway

“Truth is stranger than fiction, and according to the greatest modern historians the position of Lakeland in Norman times was highly interesting and almost unbelievable.”

So writes Nicholas Size in The Secret Valley, a history of Rannerdale published in 1929. Size notes, as a springboard for what follows, that the Lake District is absent from the Domesday Book. “It is,” he quotes, “one of the most singular eccentricities of territorial conquest that a small corner of ancient Cumbria could be held without title or grant for more than half a century after it had been absorbed into the English Kingdom.”1

Some context: by the early 400s, Roman Britain was no more, fading grandeur of a fallen empire giving way to that obscured time known in popular history as the Dark Ages. Into that period of Early Middle Age turmoil emerged the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Mercia, Wessex, East Anglia, Kent and – dominating the north country – Northumbria. The arrival of the Norse along the Cumbrian west coast from around AD900 brought settlers to Lakeland dales and a legacy of language in the tjorns (Old Norse ‘tarn’), fjalls (Old Norse ‘fell’) and bekkrs (Old Norse ‘beck’). Fast-forward 150 years, the coming of the Normans set the scene for the great slaughter at Rannerdale.

“The years which followed 1066 raised Lakeland to a position of great importance,” writes Size. With ruthless efficiency William the Conqueror bent England to his will, responding to local resistance with the bloody Harrying of the North. Refugees fleeing Yorkshire and Lancashire sought haven in the wild back country of Cumberland. Telling tales of “wanton murder, cruelty and pillage” at Norman hands, the dispossessed found a “warm welcome from the half-Norwegian inhabitants, among whom, hospitality had been a religion ever since the days when Father Odin was the chief of the gods”.

The decades after William I’s victory at Hastings saw a war of attrition between Ranulf le Meschin (William’s lieutenant; Earl of Chester, Lord of Cumberland) and those “half-Norwegian inhabitants” hidden deep in the Lakeland fells.

Their stronghold beyond Rannerdale was, Size tells us, a land of milk and honey. Rye and oats flourished on the fertile floodplains. Buttermere and Crummock Water yielded wildfowl in abundance and fish “which came up simply to be caught”. Herds of swine grazed the oak wood pastures, where sheep and cattle “bred like magic”. This bounteous Eden was also a natural fortress: “surrounded by high mountains... the only safe and easy access was by means of boats on Crummock Water”.

Le Meschin knew – initially from rumours, latterly from information obtained under torture – about this hidden kingdom, this “Little Norway... said to be up in the clouds among the mountain tops”. In time he would also come to learn the name of his nemesis: ruler of this enchanted paradise from around 1070 – and the hero of Size’s tale – Earl Boethar the Younger.

The noose tightens

For nearly 50 years Boethar taunted le Meschin – raiding Norman camps, pillaging convoys as far afield as the Eden Valley. Le Meschin responded by tightening the noose on Boethar’s elusive refuge.

Kendal fell first, then Ambleside and Keswick. The castles at Brough, Appleby, Carlisle, Cockermouth, Penrith and Egremont record the steady circling of free Lakeland as le Meschin’s troops fortified Norman territory to the east, then the north, then the west. But it was in the south-west that the greatest blows fell; the trading city of Barnscar – perched alongside lonely Devoke Water – was razed, while the loss of Ravenglass severed the old sea passage to Ireland. Too close for comfort came a skirmish at Newlands.

Boethar knew that for the Normans to seize the Secret Valley, any attack had to come from the north – up Lorton Vale – and at the climax of Size’s narrative le Meschin leads an “overwhelming army” of troops over the swamps of the Cocker and on past Lorton to root out the “free men of the north” for good.

With Boethar’s men outnumbered many times over, the David vs Goliath showdown at Rannerdale should have been a bloodbath.

And it was, but not at Norman hands, for the Vikings had planned the endgame for a century and more. The old road over Rannerdale Hause (the route used by today’s bridleway) was obscured, scree and boulders rearranged to make the headland into an “unclimbable wall of rock”. At the same time, a false trail was laid up Rannerdale valley, criss-crossing Squat Beck on faulty bridges and ending in a killing field of concealed pits.

Marching up this fatal cul-de-sac, the depleted Norman army realised too late its fate. Approaching the end of the road, arrows rained down on le Meschin’s men while Boethar’s berserkers tore down Rannerdale Edge. Regiment after Norman regiment fell in an “orgy of killing” on the Cumbrian equivalent of Flanders fields.

“Rannerdale valley was like a charnel house,” writes Size in the final pages of The Secret Valley, “but in the course of time the birds and beasts, the insects and the worms, all did their appointed work, and to-day you can say only that there are more bluebells than anywhere else... the loveliest flowers may spring from some dead Cæser’s breast.”

Man behind the myth

The Secret Valley spins a fine yarn, but not – alas – a true one. Buttermere was never ‘Boethar’s mere’, as Size suggests, but the Old English valley of butere [butter]. No arrows fell from the sky. No last stand took place at Rannerdale. According to Professor Angus Winchester, modern scholar of the ancient valley, Rannerdale is no more (or less) special than any other Lakeland valley. It is, he writes, “a place of two stories, a fairly prosaic historical one of hill farming and iron smelting, and an imaginary tale of heroic struggle and bloodshed.”

Nicholas Size was born in Liverpool in 1866, by trade a railway supervisor like his father. Size junior – a lifelong lover of the Lakes – became proprietor of the Victoria Hotel in Buttermere (now the Bridge Hotel) in around 1920. His plans for the hotel, and his adopted home of Buttermere, were ambitious and occasionally madcap. Brass bands were brought in to entertain guests in an expansive beer garden. A nine-hole golf course was constructed and a service station planned – though never built. Most brazen of all, a chairlift was proposed to the summit of High Crag.

How, though, to attract visitors to his burgeoning Alpine resort? Size needed a marketing hook to put Buttermere on the map. And in The Secret Valley he created it – a new origin story for this backwater valley.

“He’d do anything to make money,” was one observation of ‘Auld Nick’ – a Marmite character in Lorton society – and his efforts to conceal fiction as fact included approaching novelist Hugh Walpole to supply a foreword to The Secret Valley’s 1930 edition, in which the author wrote cryptically: “In history, I have always considered the spirit of the law rather than the letter.”

Tall tales

How are we to interpret Size’s spirited pseudo-history today? As a piece of grandiose advertising – smart in execution, cynical in intent? Or as a work of historical romance in the style of Walter Scott (or indeed Walpole), artfully blending fact and fiction. If it is the latter, Size takes his place alongside other Cumbrian storytellers, not least Will Ritson of Wasdale, one-time landlord of the Wasdale Head Hotel and infamous teller of tall tales.

Closer to home, Mary Robinson was re-christened the ‘Beauty of Buttermere’ in the late 18th century, as a Romantically frenzied public imposed imagined qualities onto a pretty barmaid that ended in unwanted celebrity, legions of admirers/gawkers descending on the Fish Inn, a bigamous marriage and – in the end – the death by hanging of fraudster John Hatfield, demonstrating that playing too loose with facts can have real-life consequences.

If Size’s work of artful fiction did not have the same unhappy ending, it nevertheless transformed Rannerdale. Its unlikely metamorphosis was reinforced with a re-telling of Boethar’s ‘history’ by Rosemary Sutcliff in her 1956 book The Shield Ring. For generations, tourists and locals have had no reason to question, and every reason to celebrate, the story of Boethar’s last stand, as Size’s, then Sutcliffe’s, fiction has been woven into the cultural fabric of Lakeland to the extent that, according to Angus, it has ultimately “smothered history”.

Of particular note is a strand of misplaced nativism in the emotive presentation of Earl Boethar and his men saving “a section of our race from extermination”. Size goes on: “The broad fact that our local men kept Lakeland out of Doomsday Book [sic] is perhaps their greatest monument.” In his Rannerdale Knotts chapter of The North Western Fells (1964), Alfred Wainwright echoes the enduring pride: “Not even Gable has witnessed a real battle! And, what’s more, our side won!!”

The collective ‘our’ is asked to do a lot of heavy lifting. Narratives that made Norwegian Vikings the authentic ‘local men’ of Lakeland have been around since the late 1850s, but they became mainstream thanks to author – and assistant to John Ruskin – W. G. Collingwood.

“A flowering of antiquarian and scholarly work between around 1890 and the outbreak of the First World War led by Collingwood,” explains Angus, “laid bare the Norse roots of Lakeland dialect and recognised the Viking influence in the art of the pre-Conquest stone crosses in Cumbrian churchyards... By the time Size came to write The Secret Valley the pre-eminence of Viking heritage had become fixed.”

Fixed – but flawed. The definitive study on English DNA, undertaken in 2012 by Oxford University, analysed 500,000 data points from around Britain to reveal a genetic ‘Celtic fringe’ along the western seaboard of Cornwall, Wales, Scotland and Cumbria, with ‘native’ bloodlines stretching back before the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons, the Danes, the Normans – and the Norse. In short, the ‘true’ race of Lakeland, if there ever was such a thing, was never Size’s Norse incomers; it was formed of Romanised Britons and Celts.

Truth in the margins

If truth is – as Size wanted us to believe – stranger than fiction, in this not-so-secret valley the strangest tale of all is perhaps found in the margins of history.

Now silent but for raven calls, and, on this spring evening, the gentle chatter of bluebell-wowed photographers, Rannerdale likely developed as an outpost of a larger settlement, with summer shepherding huts – or shielings – scattered around the fertile triangle of hill-sheltered meadows below the Knotts. Along the shoreline of Crummock Water, iron was smelted – a lost industry captured in the name Cinderdale Beck that tumbles from Lad Hows. “I think we can imagine that by the Middle Ages – between about 1250 through to around 1500,” explains Angus, “some form of small farming settlement had grown up” featuring permanent stone buildings, and, in 1508, a chapel.

Then, a generation later, the valley was abandoned.

“Something happened,” continues Angus, whose interrogation of old records has uncovered a domestic dispute with more everyday drama than Size’s heroic fiction. “Living in Rannerdale at the turn of the 16th century was local ne-’er-do-well John ‘Jak’ Newcom, whose actions in the valley included taking land from the common, obstructing the highway and worrying neighbours’ cattle.” A fraught confrontation led to murder, with Jak accused of striking one Robert Thomson with an “irnefork” and Jak’s family named as accessories. The Newcoms fled the valley, after which the pattern of peripheral habitation that exists today became established.

Was Jak, therefore, the last resident of Rannerdale? Was tragic Robert Thomson’s blood spilt on the valley floor meadows? And are the ruins beside the main valley track – shielded by an ancient crab apple tree – the site of the Newcoms’ long-abandoned farmstead?

In a valley where story and history are overlaid, seeking tumbledown truths in moss-reclaimed ruins is as futile as seeking shapes in the mists that drift through the crags above. Earl Boethar, Jak Newcom, Mary Robinson – even Nicholas Size himself, buried in a gunpowder-blasted rock chamber in the fairytale glen around Mill Beck – are all figures cloaked in half-truths, spirits in the breeze that on this balmy May evening makes ripples in the ever-shifting sea of blue.

The gather: Pick of the Cumbrian headlines

• Friends of the Lake District (FLD) is calling on the Government to introduce legislation to control the number of holiday lets in tourist hotspots. The landscape charity’s Fairer Housing Campaign is seeking a mandatory registration scheme that would give local authorities the power to refuse licences for new short-term holiday lets in areas where the number threatens the viability of a community. The charity also wants to empower local authorities to require planning permission when permanent homes are changed into a holiday let or second home. “The uncontrolled expansion of holiday accommodation is having a huge community impact,” FLD’s outgoing CEO Michael Hill told the BBC. The charity says communities are being “hollowed out” by a surge in second homes and short-term lets, which reduce housing supply for permanent residents and inflate private rents and house prices beyond the reach of local people. FLD’s call has been backed by Lake District National Park Authority chief Gavin Capstick, who said the authority had asked the government to trial a new scheme “to manage the number of second homes and holiday lets [that] will help maintain community vibrancy and resilience in the Lake District National Park”. Keswick’s mayor Louise Dunn described the prevalence of holiday homes in the town as “a huge problem that’s threatening the viability of the community”. In a recent interview (below), she discussed the need for a better balance between the needs of local communities, the landscape and the tourism industry. FLD’s petition is at friendsofthelakedistrict.org.uk/news/fairer-housing-petition/

• Boat owners have been left “gobsmacked” by the National Trust’s decision to close its boat and equipment storage facility at Fell Foot on Windermere. The Trust blamed rising costs for the move, citing “really difficult decisions about where we put our energy and resources”, and said the closure would open more of Windermere’s southern shoreline to the public. The local boating community has been asked to vacate the boatyard by 31 October because it will no longer be staffed. Kevin Wilkinson, a National Trust volunteer who has kept his boat at Fell Foot for 15 years, said he was “sick, literally” when he heard the announcement. Orlando Barker, who lives in Kendal and takes his young family onto the lake several times a month, said the costs of alternative boat storage and launching facilities on Windermere were “unfeasible”. He said: “A lot of locals use Fell Foot because it’s affordable.” More from The Mail.

• The Trust is also closing six holiday cottages in Cumbria, among 137 nationally, due to ongoing funding challenges. There are fears that off-grid Bird How in Eskdale (previous guests include the novelist Ian McEwan), may be among them. Four of the six Cumbrian cottages will be offered as long-term lets on Assured Shorthold Tenancies, the Trust said, while the future of Bird How and Thrang in the Duddon Valley are still being decided. A frequent visitor at Bird How, Sue Lane, told Cumbria Crack that closing Bird How would be “like killing something precious”.

  

• Water quality in Windermere is to be monitored non-stop during a 12-month trial. Monitoring buoys will be placed in two locations – by the treated wastewater discharge point at Tower Wood and the storm overflow outfall at The Glebe – to enable United Utilities and the Environment Agency (EA) to gather information about oxygen, ammonia and pH levels, as well as water temperature. Both parties said the trial was primarily for testing the process, but that data would be made public after the trial.

• The monitoring trial is unrelated to in-person sampling that EA carries out at designated bathing waters during the bathing season (May–September). Last month Save Windermere called for targeted and more frequent sampling across the lake, not just at its four designated bathing sites, after sharing the stories of swimmers – including a seven-year-old boy – who became seriously ill with E. coli infections after swimming in Windermere last summer. “These stories are difficult to read, but… they directly challenge the assertion that Windermere’s water quality is safe simply because official bathing water sites are classified as ‘Excellent’”, said Matt Staniek, founder of Save Windermere. He wants to see the EA’s National Pollution Risk Forecasting system extended to Windermere so people can access daily forecasts of pollution risk across all sites where people access the water. More from The Guardian.

• Good and bad news in Lakes hospitality this month. The Kirkstone Pass Inn has finally reopened under the management of The Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery. Following its closure five years ago and acquisition by holiday let company Supreme Escapes, there had been concerns that the 186-year-old inn’s historical features would be gutted. However, the interior has barely changed (our man at the bar reports: “Kirkstone Pass Inn interior has been put back together and is very much the same-as-was, but brighter and serving splendid Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery beers – some named specially for the pub – and pies from Dales Traditional Butchers in Kirkby Lonsdale”). Meanwhile, the Patterdale Hotel can look forward to an upgrade after it was bought by Lake District Hotels, owner of the Lodore Falls Hotel and Inn on the Lake, and it is feared the bistro and shop at The Lakes Distillery near Bassenthwaite will close imminently, although new(ish) owners Nyetimber have not confirmed this publicly.

• Mountain Rescue Teams (MRTs) may be unable to attend community events such as fell races and agricultural shows if proposed amendments to the Health and Social Care Act are not amended, Tim Farron has warned. The Westmorland and Lonsdale MP has tabled an Early Day Motion to note his concern that small volunteer-led organisations, such as MRTs, will “struggle to afford” the £10,000- £20,000 bill arising from amendments that require any group providing first aid at an event that has a medical professional in the organisation to register with the Care Quality Commission. Mr Farron has urged the Government to amend the proposals to introduce an exemption for volunteer MRTs and similar organisations. More from The Mail.

• The Lake District has been named as one of eight sites where Golden Eagles (above) could be reintroduced in England. A decade after England’s last resident eagle disappeared from Haweswater, a feasibility study by Forestry England has identified Lakeland as having the ecological potential to support the return of the iconic species. The Government has pledged £1 million of extra funding for a programme that could see juvenile birds released as early as next summer. A public consultation into an English release will be led by Dr Cat Barlow of Restoring Upland Nature, which led the successful South of Scotland Golden Eagle project that has boosted numbers across the Borders and Dumfries & Galloway to around 50. More from the BBC.

• Forestry England has also received the green light to apply to release beavers in Ennerdale. After Natural England approved its initial expression of interest in a wild release of 30 adult beavers, Forestry England can now submit a full application. It is appealing to landowners and other stakeholders to help identify possible release sites, and hopes the giant rodent – already reintroduced on the Lowther Estate near Penrith – may take to the Ennerdale valley and Ehen and Calder catchment areas from September 2027. More from the BBC.

• Osprey-watchers at Foulshaw Moss nature reserve breathed a sigh of relief when a breeding pair that have nested there for 13 years returned after a “nail-biting” wait. The male bird arrived without his partner at the end of March, then waited several long days for her to join him. More from the BBC.

• The Wordsworth Trust has acquired Rydal Mount, the final home of William Wordsworth. The Grade I listed house (above) was put up for sale a year ago by its owners, descendants of the poet (who never owned the house but did design the gardens). Working with the Julia Rausing Trust and Charlotte Aitken Trust, Wordsworth Trust said the house would now be preserved for public use “in some form”. More from the BBC.

• A former conference centre of Newton Rigg College in Penrith is set to become a gym. The farming college closed in 2021 and its buildings were sold to Leo Group and AW Jenkinson; some now house businesses including Cumbrian Local Radio and the World Owl Trust. Having already secured permission to build three outdoor padel courts and turn the former student refectory into a “modern eatery” and deli, the owners have proposed creating a two-story fitness centre with two large suites, a staff kitchen, wellness facilities and three classrooms for fitness education. More from News & Star.

• A temporary campsite will open at Gatesgarth Farm in Buttermere this summer after the farm’s new tenants applied to operate between 16 July and 13 September. More from Times & Star.

• There’s gold in the rivers of Borrowdale, Sedbergh, the Eden Valley and Caldbeck Fells. Though not much…

  

• Historic England is asking people to share photos, stories and memories of a mysterious building in Underbarrow to help uncover the reason for its existence. Henry’s Castle (above), which has been given Grade II* listed status, looks more like a cottage than a castle, but it did once belong to a farmer called Henry Willison. Believed to have been built in the 14^th or 15^th century, it has been a home and field barn over the centuries and was restored by the Lake District National Park in 2025. More from the BBC.

• Campaigners have applied to have a four-foot concrete post at Thorny Gale near Appleby granted Grade II-listed status. The structure is one of 6,500 trig pillars erected during the 1930s to help Ordnance Survey surveyors map the British Isles. The Retriangulation of Great Britain started 90 years ago at Cold Ashby in Northamptonshire and ended at Thorny Gale on 4 June, 1962; it formed the basis of modern mapping systems and the foundation of the Ordnance Survey National Grid. The Twentieth Century Society wants the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to recognise both the Cold Ashby and Thorny Gale pillars, which it describes as “modest obelisks of modernity in the countryside”. More from The Guardian.

• Walney Island could be cut in half by rising sea levels in the next 70 years according to modelling by Lancaster University. Residents fear they could lose their homes after observing how much the coastline has changed during recent decades. More from the BBC.

• National Park boards should be smaller, more diverse and less bureaucratic, according to the Campaign for National Parks (CNP). In a new report, Leading National Parks into the Future: Modernising National Park Authority Governance, CNP recommends what it calls “quick wins”, alongside changes that require legislation. “Outdated legislation is holding national parks back,” said CNP’s Ruth Bradshaw, “restricting innovation, limiting diversity, and reducing their ability to deliver for nature recovery and public health and wellbeing.” Quick wins include changes to the recruitment, induction and training of board members to encourage applications from people from a range of backgrounds. Legislative changes include stipulating that a third of board members are recruited on the basis of having local experience related to parks’ statutory purposes, a third are recruited on the basis of having national experience related to the purposes, and a third are appointed by constituent local authorities. The report comes after National Park Authority boards were found to be bloated, dominated by men, lacking in diversity and deficient in conservation expertise. The full report is here.

• Countrystride #162 is live. ...In which we visit springtime Allan Bank to explore the forgotten phenomena of the Grasmere dialect plays – celebrations of Westmorland dialect and life that put Lakeland on the national cultural map for nearly 40 years – and the woman behind them, Eleanor Rawnsley (née Simpson), second wife of Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley. More at CS.

• Countrystride friends and place-based artists Rob and Harriet Fraser are the latest guests on the new Mountain Stories, Mountain Futures podcast talking about using poetry, photography and walking methodologies to interpret the Lake District fells. The pod is produced by a team of mountain enthusiasts and academics that includes Countrystride alumnus Jonathan Westaway, who we summited Great Gable with in episode #21.

• Three quarters of woodlands and more than a third of ancient trees in England are out of bounds to the public, according to campaign group Right to Roam. It wants the Government to introduce a Scottish-style right to roam across Great Britain and has called on people to join mass woodland trespasses staged by local groups across the country to highlight the issue. More from The Guardian.

• [Sorry to mention the C word, but] Christmas isn’t coming early for anyone who enjoys a lights switch-on party. In Windermere and Bowness volunteers have said they won’t put up their lights in 2026 due to work and family commitments, while north of the Raise, the Friday switch-on party at Keswick is moving to a week night in an attempt to reduce visitor numbers and allay safety fears. More from the BBC.

• The Quaker Tapestry Museum in Kendal is set to reopen. The museum, which displays around 40 embroidered panels from a 77-panel tapestry exploring the Quakers’ influence on the world, closed in November due to high running costs just a month after winning a Cumbria Tourism award for best small visitor attraction. Now a group of volunteers will open the museum on Wednesdays from 6 May until the end of August, and hopefully beyond. More from the BBC.

• The year-long search for a new doctor to run Coniston’s GP service could be over. Last year the parish council and local residents worked with filmmakers to create an ad (above) showcasing the attractions of the village to potential applicants. By February no-one had applied for the role, vacated after the previous tenants of Coniston Medical Practice handed back their contracts to the NHS last August. But NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board said it was in negotiations with an interested party. More from the BBC.

• Cumbria has two of the UK’s cheapest postcodes for home buyers. According to a report by Sell House Fast, Millom (LA18) has the third cheapest price per square metre (£1,398), while Cleator Moor (CA25) comes in sixth at £1,539. More from Times and Star.

• Grasmere will be the most popular spot for UK travellers this summer, according to TripAdvisor. The website uses searches made between February and April as the basis of its Summer Travel Index, and the gingerbread capital / “nature paradise” tops its UK destination list. Holiday-seekers may have missed the news that neighbouring Ullswater is the place to be this summer: TimeOut magazine recently named it the sixth most beautiful place in the world on a list that included three UK locations in its top 20.

• And finally… Do you know the difference between a naturist and naturalist? Organisers of the Cumbria Nature Festival in Workington are keen to avoid any potential awkwardness…

In the company of Eleanor’s great-niece, Harriet Spence, and academic Sue Wilkinson, who has resurrected the plays for a modern audience, we discuss the emergence of the turn-of-the-century village drama movement and Eleanor’s relocation from London to Grasmere, where she acquired a passion for local dialect.

A series of clips from the plays featuring members of the Lakeland Dialect Society illustrate recurring themes: local traditions like rushbearing and pace egging; marriage proposals (and refusals); vignettes of everyday life including sheep-clipping and children’s games.

As Sue describes the plays’ extraordinary rise in national fame – which brought queues over Dunmail Raise and reviews in papers worldwide – Harriet details the developing three-way relationship between Eleanor, Canon Rawnsley and his increasingly frail first wife, Edith.

Emerging from World War II, we consider the demise of the plays, the death of Edith, and the short-lived marriage between Rawnsley and “True Help Meet” Eleanor.

Harriet closes the podcast reflecting on the life of her “quiet, pious and kind” great aunt, whose achievements have been overshadowed by her husband, but who was not only a remarkable author and producer of plays, but also a formidable painter, campaigner and champion of all things Lakeland.

• The featured dialect play recordings feature the voices of John Campbell and Jean Scott-Smith.

• The plays will be ‘coming home’ to Grasmere on 10 October, 2026 in an evening of readings, music and song in Grasmere Village Hall. If you’d like to be involved – either performing or helping behind the scenes – please contact Sue Wilkinson (sue_wilkinson_2000@yahoo.com). Tickets will be advertised in advance and also available at the door.

• Sue’s YouTube channel featuring short excerpts from the plays: youtube.com/channel/UC6wZ2EMH-UIG20Fa3SnXogw

• For more about the Lakeland Dialect Society: lakelanddialectsociety.co.uk

Approaching Coniston Water, we consider young Donald’s emergence from his capricious father’s shadow, and his lifelong desire to seek paternal approval – even after Malcolm’s death. Arriving on the lakeshore, we learn about the historic context of post-War speed records and the meeting of man and jet-powered machine that allowed Donald to set seven world water speed records between 1955 and 1964, inching him ever closer to the holy grail 300mph.

As waves lap the Water’s gravelly shore, Keith describes the jet-powered hydroplane’s final voyage, the somersault that ended Donald’s life, and the speed king’s final words, which offer insights into what went wrong as the craft surpassed 320mph.

Closing the pod at Donald’s grave, we hear the postscript tale of the craft’s recovery and rebuild, and reflect on a remarkable man piloting a remarkable craft in a remarkable place.

• Bluebird K7 The Festival is taking place 11–17 May, 2026: https://bluebirdk7thefestival.co.uk

• Keith is speaking as part of the Festival on the 11 May: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid05tuxwjaVVncdp7HQBtJJhPQDscvzP1kc8kPKQS7hYn41wtq5cRqe9CQPBXfJUF2yl&id=100064908631980

• Keith and Neil Sheppard’s book ‘Donald Campbell Bluebird and the Final Record Attempt’ can be bought from the Ruskin Museum.

• To support Countrystride, you can buy our Lake District walking guidebooks at countrystride.co.uk/our-books or gift us as little as £3 a month via Patron at patreon.com/c/countrystride

The gather: Pick of the Cumbrian headlines

• Windermere Gateway is back on – at least, the transport part of it is. After the troubled development, which promised new and affordable housing and improved transport links, was halted in January, Westmorland and Furness Council has commissioned a masterplan for the transformation of Windermere railway station into a transport hub. The plans, drawn up by engineering consultants Mott MacDonald at a cost of £150,000, will envision “an enhanced gateway” to the Lake District with improved connections for walking, cycling, taxis and buses, the council says. It has already submitted plans to Government in the hope of funding a new Lakes Line passing loop to double train frequency between Oxenholme and Windermere. “Creating this vision will put us in a much stronger position when lobbying for funding to make this a reality,” said council leader Jonathan Brook. The original Windermere Gateway plan included around 240 new homes at Orrest Head Farm. It was put on hold after the council said it couldn’t proceed within the timetable set by Homes England as part of a £9.95 million funding deal. More from Cumbria Crack.

• A new nuclear and clean energy site at Moorside next to Sellafield is also at ‘masterplan’ stage. Members of the Cumberland Nuclear Future Board have launched a project to explore development opportunities at the 400-acre Pioneer Park in west Cumbria. Funded by an initial £1 million investment from the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency, which owns the site, the six-month project will look at the potential development of new-generation nuclear technologies and how to attract funding. Whitehaven and Workington MP Josh MacAlister, who co-founded the Nuclear Future Board to try and remove barriers to new nuclear in west Cumbria, said Pioneer Park could “create high quality jobs for local people”. More from the BBC.

  

• Brockhole has a new tenant. BeWILDerwood, a woodland adventure company founded by author Tom Blofeld, whose family-friendly attractions in Norfolk and Cheshire are based on the world portrayed in his children’s books, will take stewardship of the site in April. Brockhole was the first national park visitor centre in the UK when it opened in 1969. Last year the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) closed the ‘white house’ Arts and Crafts villa and put the lease of the site on the market due to a funding shortfall. BeWILDerwood says it will re-open catering in the white house and introduce an indoor play area this year, with new outdoor play elements arriving from 2027. “Brockhole will remain Brockhole,” the company said, adding that it would retain “the public amenities that locals known and love”. Free public access to the grounds, walkways and on-site cafés will remain, and existing tenants including Zip World and Windermere Lake Cruises will also stay. More from the BBC.

• In Keswick, the new owners of another ex-LDNPA property have been named. Moot Hall will reopen in “the next few months” as a café by Constantinos Theophanous and Scott Thain. The pair, who are relocating the business from Wigton, have said they hope to retain “some part of the tourism office in Moot Hall”. “We’re a Cumbrian business and when we saw Moot Hall come up, it was meant to be,” said Theophanous. More from the BBC.

• Tourism businesses in Keswick have given the thumbs-up to a vehicle levy in the Lake District. At a meeting of Keswick Tourism Association, members backed a car levy over a tourist tax on overnight stays as a means of generating visitor income to help fund services in the National Park. The news comes two months after the Lake District National Park Partnership – a coalition of 24 organisations (including the LDNPA and Cumbria Tourism), which sets the management priorities for the Lake District – rejected recommendations from a report it had commissioned to investigate the costs of installing and operating a vehicle levy in its Draft Management Plan.

• After the sudden closure of Barrow’s Market Hall caused shock and anger in the town last month, Westmorland and Furness Council will discuss plans for its demolition and provision of an alternative venue. The council announced in February that the building had reached the end of its life, despite having previously committed to a £17.5 million redevelopment of the Hall and adjacent Forum Theatre, which closed in 2024 after the discovery of asbestos in the backstage area. The council said it had been advised to take “rapid action” at the Hall after wet weather exposed additional roof leaks that could cause asbestos to become dislodged. The market’s 12 traders were given three days to remove their belongings. “It beggars belief, it’s just how it’s been brought upon us,” said butcher and farmer Peter Gott, who has sold from Barrow market for 55 years. Local MP Michelle Scrogham said she was “raging about the way that the market traders have been treated”. Last week hundreds of residents demonstrated outside The Forum to demand guarantees over a replacement venue for community theatre. Councillor Helen Chaffey, cabinet member for communities, said the “essential elements” of the theatre and market would form part of the multi-million-pound Heart of Barrow redevelopment funded by BAE, national government and the council. Interim options on the table for discussion on 17 March include a market space and temporary meeting/events venue.

• Meanwhile, Kendal Farmers’ Market has been named best in Britain. The fortnightly Friday market, which has a strict producer-only policy and has helped more than 31 new businesses start up since the pandemic, was awarded Best Small Outdoor Market in the Great British Market Awards. More from Cumbria Crack.

• The Kirkstone Pass Inn is to reopen! The controversial redevelopment of the historic pub – which closed five years ago – into two large holiday lets by new owner Supreme Escapes sparked fears about the permanent loss of an iconic Lakeland hostelry. Now Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery has announced it will reopen the pub next month. Filmmaker Terry Abraham has shared a work-in-progress sneek peek of the inn’s interior on social media (above), saying “the brewery is taking on the historic pub part and I’ve no doubt they’ll do a fantastic job on it”. The Brewery will serve its own ales and speciality coffee at the bar. Brewery owner Stu Taylor said: “We’ve been looking for the right pub for a long time… We’re incredibly proud to be bringing it back to life.” More from Cumbria Crack.

• Lancaster Brewery has opened a new pub in the former first-class waiting room at Carlisle station as part of the £27 million Station Gateway Project. Named Scott & Brassey after Sir Walter Scott, who used Carlisle as a location in his novels, and Thomas Brassey, the Victorian engineering contractor who brought the Lancaster and Carlisle railway into being, the pub will sell Lancaster Brewery’s own real ales alongside guest beer and spirits from local producers. More from News & Star.

• An “unprecedented” clean-up of unexploded ordnance caused a beach near Ravenglass to be closed for 11 days. Bomb disposal experts cleared 300 pieces of ordnance during 13 controlled explosions at Eskmeals. “It’s quite unnatural that volume of what we call UXO – unexploded ordnance – in one particular area,” said Capt. Nick Wood of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal squad based at Catterick. More from the BBC.

• Parts of north and west Cumbria could find themselves more frequently affected by flooding by 2050, projections suggest. News & Star reports that unless further adaptations or defences are implemented, more floods on the rivers Eden, Derwent, Ellen and Ehen/Calder could affect communities in Carlisle, Cockermouth, Workington, Maryport and Egremont. Modelling based on a sea-level map produced by Climate Central, an independent group of scientists and communicators who research and report on the changing climate, also suggests that low-lying land along the Solway Firth (above) would be below the annual flood level in 2050 “under pessimistic sea-level assumptions”. More from News & Star.

• Suzi Quatro, 10CC and the Bootleg Beatles will no longer perform at Bluebird K7 The Festival at Coniston Water in May. Festival organisers the Ruskin Museum blamed traffic management issues and a lack of park-and-ride provision for the “difficult decision” to cancel concerts planned between 15-17 May, saying “we are taking into account not only what we are providing to visitors, but the impact on local residents”. The festival will still take place between 11–17 May, with Donald Campbell’s Bluebird K7 at its heart. The restored craft will run across the lake daily if conditions allow, organisers say. Blue Bird K3, the 1937 hydroplane in which Donald’s father Sir Malcolm Campbell broke three world water speed records in Switzerland, will also appear on Coniston Water for the first time. More from The Mail. (Next week’s Countrystride episode is about Campbell and his iconic craft).

• Researchers are examining underground fungi at Wild Haweswater to understand how they might aid the establishment of 260,000 hectares of new native woodland across England. Samples taken will identify which types of mycorrhizal fungi – soil micro-organisms that form networks with tree roots, helping them access nutrients and water in return for carbon – are present in grasslands at Wild Haweswater. Knowing the fungi that are present could help conservationists decide which trees to plant and where to plant them, according to Dr Mo Verhoeven from the RSPB, who is leading the research in partnership with the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks. More from the BBC.

• The plight of an evicted tenant in Applethwaite near Keswick has highlighted the lack of long-term rental housing in the Lake District, where in some places one in four homes are holiday properties. Marcus Katz, who has lived in Keswick for 35 years, told the BBC that “I am literally facing homelessness,” after his landlord issued him a “no-fault” eviction notice. Although given an opportunity to buy the property, Mr Katz couldn’t meet the asking price, and when he tried to find a new home to rent in his home town he found the market “had funnelled down to zero”. Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, said “the collapse of the long-term private rented sector into short-term holiday lets has resulted in many people not being able to live and work in the Lake District”. He wants local authorities to have powers through new planning laws to limit numbers of short-term lets and holiday homes. “If I wanted to turn my house into a fish and chip shop, I’d have to apply for planning permission,” he told the BBC last month. “But if I want to turn it into second home or holiday let, I can just do that. But it has a material impact on the community I live in.”

• Cumbria’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner David Allen has been selected as Labour’s candidate for the Mayor of Cumbria. His current role will disappear when the inaugural mayor is elected in May 2027 to oversee the new Cumbria Combined Authority. The Conservative candidate is former Copeland Council leader Mike Starkie, while the Liberal Democrats have selected former Cumbria county councillor Libby Bateman. [Neither Reform nor the Green Party have yet selected a candidate.] More from Cumbria Crack

• Influencers paid by LDPNA to encourage responsible tourism in the Lake District reached 1.8 million young people last summer. The authority spent £6,000 on a pilot social media campaign to spread its ‘Lake District Kind’ message around issues such as littering and fly-camping. Two influencers – @cam.is.exploring and @joeexplorez – posted eight pieces of content across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube over a four-month period, said LDPNA, which is considering the results of the pilot before deciding whether to continue the campaign this year. More from the BBC.

• ‘Younger adults’ are now the largest demographic group visiting the county, according to a new survey by Cumbria Tourism. It found that 25–44-year-olds accounted for 39 per cent of all visitors compared with 45–60-year-olds (25 per cent) and over–60s (15 per cent). The Cumbria Visitor Survey also found that 44 per cent of visitors used social media to research their trips in advance (more than twice the number using Cumbria Tourism’s website), with Instagram and YouTube usage doubling since 2022. Solo travellers have more than doubled since 2022, to 15 per cent. More from in-cumbria.

• Some campervan owners are not getting the ‘Lake District Kind’ message, it seems. In Keswick, residents are concerned about illegal overnight parking on residential streets and potential hazards posed by gas canisters, fires and waste disposal. Town councillors are calling for a timeframe for the delivery of a campervan strategy being drawn up by Cumberland Council and would like better motorhome facilities to be provided in the National Park. More from The Keswick Reminder.

• You wait years for a Cumbrian town to put itself forward for Town of Culture, then… After Kendal launched its bid for the 2028 Town of Culture title, which would attract £3 million of investment for cultural events over a year, Kirkby Lonsdale announced it was throwing its creative hat into the ring, while Westmorland and Furness Council suggested Barrow might have a go, too. Towns have until 31 March to express their interest. Meanwhile, Carlisle is vying to become the UK’s City of Culture in 2029. Cumberland Council has submitted an expression of interest for the honour that comes with £10 million worth of investment. More from the BBC.

• West Cumbria Rivers Trust has planted 55,000 new trees on the bracken-covered east slopes of Castlerigg Fell between Keswick and Thirlmere to create a new 40-hectare woodland. ‘Shoulthwaite Woodland’ is funded by Forestry England with advice and support from The Woodland Trust.

• The Haig Colliery Mining Museum near Whitehaven is to reopen later this year. The attraction on a former coal mine at Kells closed in 2016, but was recently bought by miner’s son Mike Johnson, a councillor for Thursby ward. He has requested ideas from the community to explore new uses for the site, which is a scheduled monument. A café will open there later this month. More from the BBC.

• A speed camera on the A595 near Seascale has caught more than 4,000 vehicles since it was installed in October. Hundreds of people have taken to social media to question the reliability of the device in the village of Holmrook after 4,260 speeding tickets were handed out in six months. Chi-ching. More from News & Star.

• And finally… A Californian couple have travelled 5,000 miles to the Newlands Valley (photo at top of newsletter) to stand in front of a view that captured their hearts on a screensaver. More from The Keswick Reminder.

Turning our attention to St Oswald’s, we delve into the history of a wood-carved pulpit that links Sam Read Bookseller, a near-tragedy in the church and Greenup Edge; and consider why Grasmere Rushbearing plays such a key role in the life of the village.

Disappearing down a fell-running rabbit hole, we discuss the inaugural ‘Rector’s Run’; the remarkable community of those who run in the fells and the spiritual ‘settling’ that happens when moving through wild places, before Charlie describes a heart-stopping moment in Wasdale (’Swing Low, Sweet Chariot!’) at the head of Joss Naylor’s funeral cortège.

Closing our conversation, we play Cumbrian church Top Trumps (and are spoiled for choice); consider our guests’ favourite time in the church year; and brainstorm a new event for the Lakeland calendar – a drive-in midnight mass (or should that be moss) at White Moss... You heard it here first...

The gather: Pick of the Cumbrian headlines

• A plan to build 240 new homes in Windermere has been put on hold. Partners in the Windermere Gateway project, a multi-agency scheme to improve affordable housing and transport provision in the town, announced last month that “a number of challenges have recently arisen that affect the deliverability of this project”. Westmorland and Furness Council, which was leading on the scheme, alongside the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA), National Trust – which owns the land at Orrest Head Farm on which the homes were to be built – and developer Urban Splash, said the housing scheme would not go ahead because it couldn’t proceed according to the timescale set by Homes England, the Government’s housing and regeneration agency, with which it had agreed a £9.95m funding deal to carry out highways improvements. However Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, told BBC Radio Cumbria that delays to the project had been caused by property developers and investors “who seemed not to be serious” about meeting the quota of affordable homes included in the plans. “Throughout the process, it’s felt really hard to get the developers and their investors to really commit to genuinely affordable homes,” he said. Urban Splash said it was still “committed to this scheme”. More from the BBC.

• United Utilities (UU) has confirmed it will no longer withdraw from an agreement that reduced the risk of flooding in the Keswick area. Communities in the catchment became aware of UU’s intention to end its voluntary Thirlmere water-release commitment, which had been in place since 2008 to help prevent flooding by providing extra space in the reservoir during periods of heavy rain – in January when the company applied to the Environment Agency (EA) to renew its extraction licences. St John’s, Castlerigg & Wythburn Parish Council objected to the renewal of the licence if the water release agreement was dropped, saying: “The proposed decision-making framework fails to provide adequate assurance that abstraction from Thirlmere Reservoir can be sustained in a manner that is environmentally sound, socially responsible, and consistent with statutory flood-risk management”. Keswick Flood Action Group (KFAG) has subsequently secured an agreement with the water company to continue with the current release regime until a new, mutually accepted system is put in place. More from KFAG.

• The much-publicised behaviour of two walkers who were helped off Scafell Pike by mountain rescue volunteers then took advantage of the hospitality offered by a local hotel has been an unexpected boon for Mountain Rescue. After the story of the young men’s failure to settle a £130 bill they’d agreed to pay for the room offered by the Wasdale Head Inn hit national headlines, Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team (WMRT) received more than £38,000 in donations from around the world. “It has helped buoy the feeling with staff that there is a lot of kindness out there,” said WMRT’s Richard Warren, who added that the team “never judge the people we rescue”. More from the BBC.

• Keswick Tourist Information Centre closed its doors on 30 January, leaving seven staff at risk of redundancy and one of the Lake District’s busiest visitor hubs without a tourist office. Town councillor Jean Murray, who volunteered at the centre, said it was “a very sad day”, with residents, visitors and market traders dropping by to thank the “despondent” staff for their work. The new tenants of Moot Hall, which has hosted a tourist information centre (TIC) since the 1970s, will move in next month; they are believed to be owners of a café business. LDPNA has operated the centre since 2000, but decided not to renew its lease after the hall’s owners, The Battersby Trust, hiked the annual rent from £13,000 to £48,000. The authority says it is looking for new premises to site a TIC. More from The Keswick Reminder.

• West Cumbria’s nuclear sector welcomed the publication of the Government’s Advanced Nuclear Framework last week. The framework is likely to fast-track the development of Pioneer Park, a site next to Sellafield already identified as a priority site for new nuclear. “Pioneer Park has huge potential,” said Josh MacAlister, MP for Whitehaven & Workington. “This new approach allows us to move faster, attract serious private investment, and deliver new nuclear that works for our community.” More from Cumbria Crack.

• Meanwhile the Campaign for National Parks (CNP) has used a Freedom of Information request to reveal that a recommendation by the Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce to scrap a legal duty that safeguards National Parks had no factual evidence to back it up. The Protected Landscapes duty, introduced in 2023, requires public bodies in England to seek to ‘further the statutory purposes’ of National Parks and National Landscapes. Last November the nuclear taskforce called for the duty to be scrapped as it hindered nuclear development. CNP said there was no evidence to support that claim. “This is a crossroads moment,” said CNP CEO Dr Rose O’Neill. “Is this Government acting with integrity, making sound policy decisions based on evidence? Or is it letting itself be swayed by misinformation, rhetoric and the personal views of those set against our most precious landscapes?” More from CNP.

• News that a Wetherspoons pub is to be named after a (near-teetotal) Lakeland legend has not been universally welcomed. “I am appalled that A. Wainwright's name is being attached to a drinking establishment,” was one objection to plans submitted to Westmorland and Furness Council for new signage at The Alfred Wainwright in Flookburgh’s Haven Lakeland Leisure Park. “If you have to go ahead with a Wetherspoons please think of another name in respect to the memory of a man who preferred the solitude of the fells than the crowds that thus [sic] place would attract.”

• An 11-year-old from Cumbria who uses hill-climbing instead of medication to control his Tourette’s has summited his 1,000^th Wainwright. Leo Mason, from Frizington, began bagging Wainwrights in 2023 after discovering that mountains helped him manage symptoms of Tourette syndrome, ADHD and hyperactivity. He has already completed four rounds of the 214 and aims to do 10 rounds in total, as well as tackling the Munros. Follow his adventures at facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553812594011

• In other AW news, we were sad to hear about the passing of Ron Scholes, friend of Wainwright, president of the Pennine Journey Supporters Club and honorary member of the Wainwright Society. Countrystride presenter Mark Richards, who knew Ron for the best part of 40 years, said: “Ron was a schoolteacher who lived all his life in Leek, Staffs. He was 96-years-old when he died, and a grand old man of the hills who loved walking great distances.”

• If great distances are your thing, Countrystride producer Dave Felton’s ‘other podcast’ – the Land’s End to John o’Groats walking podcast – has been updated with two new episodes. The first features Steve Athawes, who completed his 1,200-mile, 93 day adventure in 2017, and the second LEJoG Association Chair Russell George. The episodes feature a range of long-distance walking/talking points, including trail loneliness, roadside naps, lunchtime pub stops (with 10 miles left to walk), hip replacements and the kindness of strangers. More at LEJOGcast.

• A proposed solar farm covering 31 hectares of open countryside at Shap has been refused planning permission. Westmorland and Furness Council received more than 230 objections, and its planning officer had recommended the application for refusal on the grounds that the development would cause significant harm to the landscape and character of the location. A second solar farm application, for Calthwaite, has been recommended for approval by planners. More from Penrith Town.

• An application to extend and modernise Brandlehow Cottage on Derwentwater – home of the world-famous ‘Teddy in the Window’ – have been withdrawn days before LDPNA’s planning committee was due to decide on it. Planning officers had recommended that the application from the cottage’s owner, Jag Chana, a London-based plastic surgeon, be refused. Borrowdale Parish Council objected strongly to the “wholly inappropriate” proposal on the grounds that the glass-fronted extension would be “highly visible” from Derwentwater, Borrowdale Road and Catbells, and cause “significant visual intrusion”. Dr Chana and his wife had previously applied to demolish the cottage, which dates back to the 16th century, and replace it with a low-carbon “forever home”. That application was refused in in May 2023. More from The Keswick Reminder.

• New government commitments for tackling grey squirrel populations aren’t sufficient to save our reds, according to campaigners. Responding to a new grey squirrel policy statement from DEFRA and the Forestry Commission, the campaign group Save Our Reds told The Guardian that its commitments, which include “supporting research into novel forms of population management” and “encouraging landowners to take greater action through financial incentives”, don’t go far enough. “A policy paper is not the same as protection,” said the group’s founder Marie Carter-Robb, while Mammal Society CEO Matt Larsen-Daw said: “Most of the squirrel monitoring is being done by volunteers.” One volunteer is Ullswater farmer Sam Beaumont, who works with a local ranger to eliminate grey squirrels and nurtures red squirrel-friendly habitats at Gowbarrow Hall Farm. “They love the ancient woodland, which has all the things they like to eat, like hazel and larch,” he said. More from The Guardian.

• There’s good news for another endangered species in the Cumbrian Pennines, where Dunlin chicks have been spotted by an RSPB team using drones. The conservation charity is working with landowners to restore boggy peatlands that provide breeding grounds for the red-list classified wading birds, which fly thousands of miles from Africa to lay their eggs in our heather moorlands. More from The Guardian.

• The East Window at Carlisle Cathedral has been voted the nation’s favourite stained glass window, beating York Minster and Wells Cathedral in a public poll. Depicting the life of Jesus in panels of ancient and Victorian glass, the Gothic window was one of 12 placed on a shortlist to win a competition organised by the Association of English Cathedrals to showcase England’s stained-glass artistry over nine centuries. The Venerable Michael Everitt, Interim Dean of Carlisle, said the window offered a “glimpse of heaven inside the Cathedral”. A new guided tour to celebrate the win will take place for the first time on Saturday 21 February. More from the BBC.

• The orange water in Whitehaven Harbour contains “a cocktail of nasties”, according to campaign group Radiation Free Lakeland (RaFL). It used a Freedom of Information request to discover that the water – discoloured by iron ochre draining through a culvert from Bransty railway tunnel – contains iron and manganese levels well above the European quality standard. While the Environment Agency (EA) has said the chemicals, believed to be from old mine workings, don’t have a “significant impact” on the marine environment once diluted, Dr Rich Crane, a professor of sustainable mining from the University of Exeter said iron and manganese discharge could cause “falling oxygen levels, the smothering of habitats and impaired photosynthesis”. RaFL says the mine water should be treated to improve its quality rather than diverted into the sea (the current plan for dealing with the harbour). More from the BBC.

• Runners competing in next year’s Montane Winter Spine will have 12 fewer hours to finish the non-stop 268-mile route along the Pennine Way after organisers shortened the cut-off time from 168 hours to 156 hours. The change was made for safety reasons, said race director Phil Hayday-Brown, “to reduce exposure at the point where fatigue is highest and winter conditions are often at the more severe”. But it has been suggested that the shorter time could be a “barrier to women” and deter them from entering. This year’s female race was won by Grasmere’s Anna Troup, who completed the route in 106 hours, 19 minutes and 12 seconds. More from the BBC.

• Nine beauty spots could be in line for new Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) to clamp down on anti-social behaviour such as littering, fire-lighting and fly-camping. Haweswater, Brothers Water and parts of Ullswater are among locations proposed by Westmorland and Furness Council for the orders, which allow officers to issue £100 fines to people found damaging the landscape. More from the BBC.

• New 20mph speed limits are to be introduced across Westmorland and Furness this Spring. New zones include areas of Barrow, Kendal and Penrith, as well as villages including Glassonby, Gamblesby, Milnthorpe, Cartmel, Stainton and Ings (see here for the full list). More schemes will be brought forward for consultation later in the year, the council said. More from Penrith Town.

• Imposing a new £60 charge for garden waste is among the “tough choices” made by Westmorland & Furness Council as it deals with “a sharp cut” in Government funding. Introducing the annual fee for residents who choose to have garden waste bins collected is one of several revenue-raising measures recommended by councillors, alongside a maximum 4.99 per cent hike in council tax, 10 per cent rise in car-park charges and increased Windermere Ferry fares. It blamed changes to the Government’s National Funding Formula for a funding gap of £11m in 2026/7. More from Cumbria Crack.

• A disused limestone quarry near Cockermouth will remain closed to protect its great-crested newts. Silloth-based company DA Harrison had appealed against LDPNA’s refusal to let it reopen Clints Crag quarry, which has been closed for 50 years. But the Planning Inspectorate confirmed the LDPNA’s decision should stand because two-thirds of the site’s great-crested newts, a protected species, would be lost if quarrying operations resumed. More from the BBC.

• A statutory licensing scheme for holiday homes is “the only way” to control the damaging impact of short-term lets on communities, according to Penrith & Solway MP Markus Campbell-Savours. The Independent MP published an Early Day Motion in Parliament proposing a licensing scheme with enforceable local caps, which he said would give local councils the power and funding to curb the spread of short-term lets and reduce pressure on local housing supply. “Annual licence fees pay for enforcement. Caps protect housing. And local people finally get a fighting chance to live in the places they serve,” he said. More from Penrith Town.

• New figures from holidaycottages.co.uk show that the appetite among tourists for Lakeland holidays is as strong as ever. The national lettings agency said Ambleside was the UK’s top spot for bookings in 2026 so far, with Keswick in sixth place. More from The Mail.

• Solfest is no more. The company behind the family-friendly music and arts festival that has been taking place near Silloth on the Solway Coast for more than two decades is going into liquidation. Solfest Ltd blamed extreme weather, the cost-of-living crisis and historical debts for the decision. “This has not been an easy decision and it is deeply regretted,” the company said in a statement. More from the BBC.

• The Scafell Hotel in Rosthwaite, Borrowdale, which hosted regular guests including bouncing-bomb inventor Sir Barnes Wallis, has gone into liquidation. More from The Keswick Reminder.

• Could West Cumbria be the next Sutton Hoo? Archaeologist – and friend of Countrystride – Steve Dickinson thinks so… More from the BBC.

• The campaign group Right to Roam has slammed successive governments’ failure to deliver on five years’ worth of promises for improved National Landscapes and expanded countryside access. “Over the past five years …no fewer than nine major policy announcement, commitments, or reviews of public access… have been shelved, abandoned, diluted, or have otherwise vanished into the ether,” it wrote in its latest newsletter, citing in particular the failure to implement Glover. “We’d love to be more positive about what politics can achieve… But it’s hard not to conclude that Westminster is currently more committed to the theatre of change than to actually changing lives.” Read the review here.

• And finally… There were fireworks on the Windermere train when an officious ticket inspector messed with the wrong footballer’s wife. “You know what love,” Abbey Clancy is reported to have told the inspector, “you should try to be nice to everybody and treat people equally, not just because [we’re with] Peter Crouch.” Ouch! More from Liverpool World.

Paying homage to John Ruskin – over the hill in Coniston – we consider the polymath visionary’s founding contribution to a movement that encompassed social justice, art and architecture, and the impact of his iconic treatise The Stones of Venice that called for traditional craftsmanship, simplicity and the use of natural materials in everything from furniture to buildings.

Entering Blackwell, we are immersed in the movement made real, with immaculately detailed stonework, wood carvings, floor tiles, stained glass and wallpaper showcasing the creative talents of dozens of local craftspeople, all designed into a coherent rural retreat for the wealthy Holt family of Manchester.

Wandering through room after enchanting room, we meet two more key figures whose lives are intertwined with the house: William Morris – the revolutionary designer, craftsman, social activist, and founder of Morris & Co – and Blackwell architect Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott, whose extraordinary vision gave rise to one of Lakeland’s finest, and most eccentric, houses.

In divers quickfire ramblings that take in pubs, breweries and stag do’s, we proceed into Blackwell’s recent past, and its second life as an evacuees’ boarding school, before closing by considering the legacy of one of the country’s most important arts movements – as relevant as ever in the age of AI.

• Blackwell is open from now until 31 March: Monday – Saturday 10am – 4pm, then 1 April – 31 October: Monday to Saturday 10am – 5pm. The house is currently exhibiting ‘Frances Priest Motif | Line | Colour’ until 11 April, 2026. Explore the ceramic work of celebrated Edinburgh-based artist Frances Priest in an exhibition tracing 25 years of her artistic work.

• More about Blackwell can be found at: lakelandarts.org.uk/blackwell/

The gather: Pick of the Cumbrian headlines

• The Tour de France is coming to Cumbria! Across six days of racing on British roads in July and August of 2027, the men’s Tour will visit Edinburgh, Carlisle, Keswick, Liverpool, Welshpool and Cardiff, while the Tour de France Femmes will visit Leeds, Manchester Sheffield and London. The men’s opening stage will start in Edinburgh and end in Carlisle on 2 July, with Stage Two leaving Keswick on 3 July for Liverpool, heading south along the A591 past Thirlmere, over Dunmail Raise then through Ambleside and Windermere to exit the county via Beetham (see route above). John Barradell of Cumbria Combined Authority said: “Events of this scale and magnitude are a fantastic chance to not only showcase Cumbria on a global stage, but also to encourage economic growth and investment within the county on a scale rarely seen.” More from Sky News.

• Multiple records have fallen in the world of winter endurance events. First up, Coniston-based ultrarunner James Gibson (pictured below) has set a new record for a Double Bob Graham Round. The coach and climbing instructor took 42 hours and 56 minutes to complete the 132-mile, 84-summit challenge over Lakeland fells in freezing conditions, not only knocking an hour from the previous record, but becoming the first person to complete a Double Bob in winter…

  

• …And a new winter record for a single Bob Graham was also set last month by rising star Arthur Hill, who came in at 14 hours, 54 minutes and 23 seconds, three minutes below the previous winter record to become the fastest under-25 ever to complete the route.

• Meanwhile, Cumbrian women and Mountain Rescue members have triumphed in one of the toughest Winter Spines in its 13-year history. The 268-mile race, which tracks the Pennine Way from Edale to Kirk Yetholm, was won by Anna Troup of Grasmere for the women in a time of 106 hours, 19 minutes, while France’s Sébastien Raichon took the men’s title in 95 hours, 43 minutes. Conditions on the route – which saw more than a third of competitors drop out – were unusually brutal, featuring snowdrifts, floodwater and bitter winds in the wake of Storm Goretti. Speaking to the BBC, Spine founder and director Phil Hayday-Brown said: “It's been an incredibly trying race, and even for some of the most experienced athletes on the field it's proved too much.” The women’s MRT Challenge South Race – a 108-mile route from Edale to Hawes for members of Mountain Rescue – was won by Cockermouth’s Sarah Perry, while John Evason from the Duddon & Furness team won the men’s MRT Challenge South and Rhys Beddoe from Kirkby Stephen won the men’s MRT Challenge North, also setting a new record. More from ITV News.

• The Lake District National Park Partnership (LDNPP) has been criticised by its own members after recommendations from a report it commissioned on the viability of a visitor vehicle levy were sidelined in its new Draft Partnership Management Plan. The Partnership – a coalition of 24 organisations including the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA), councils, charities and business bodies – produces the five-yearly Management Plan that guides decision-making in the Lake District. However, the draft 2026–31 Plan, now out for public consultation, omits recommendations to research a levy on visitor vehicles entering the Park, prompting frustration among Partnership and Park members. Those proposals were set out in the report Sustainable Funding of Sustainable Transport in the Lake District, which urged the Partnership to define a vision for “world-class sustainable travel” and refine the costs of installing and operating a vehicle levy. Michael Hill of Friends of the Lake District said the Plan “recognises what is needed, but baulks at attempting to deliver it”, warning that without stronger ambition the Park risks “overwhelmed infrastructure, degraded landscapes and hollowed out communities”. He urged the public to press the LDNPP to reconsider the omission before the Plan is finalised. Meanwhile, LDNPA Member and Park Strategy and Vision Committee Chair Peter Walter wrote that the report found a daily visitor vehicle levy could raise £9.2 million from a £1 charge, funding a transformation of public transport, but lacked sufficient Partnership support. Cumbria Tourism chief Gill Haigh, who sat on the group that commissioned the report, but did not support it, told BBC Radio Cumbria a visitor charge could harm a tourism sector still recovering from Covid, saying tourists are “already very heavily taxed”. The public consultation closes on 30 January.

• Kirkstone Pass in the snow was not the winter staycation two vanning YouTubers had dreamed of. In a video titled ‘-4°C VANLIFE DISASTER – Everything Went Wrong In The Lake District’ @LifeInLenny chronicles a freezing night on the Pass in a self-built camper van with no power: “With temperatures dropping to -4°C, things start going badly wrong inside the van. Our freezing campervan sink cracks, our off-grid power system fails, and with no power, no heating and below-zero temperatures, we’re forced to cut the trip short and head home early.” More from The Westmorland Gazette.

• The Times has named CA12 (Keswick) one of the UK’s ‘coolest’ postcodes, citing its appeal to ‘Gen Z trail-heads’ who can’t get enough of its endurance races and coffee shops. But if any of those 20-somethings want to settle in the town, they’ll pay a “paradise premium” for the privilege, according to research by the same paper. While house prices in the UK’s 15 national parks are on average 63 per cent higher than equivalent properties elsewhere in the parks’ counties, properties in the Lake District are 102.3 per cent higher than in the rest of Cumbria. Strict planning rules are one reason for the premium, according to The Times, meaning “you’ll be buying into somewhere that is breathtakingly beautiful today, and is likely to be so tomorrow”. The paper also warns that national parks price out young people, offer poor employment opportunities and limited public transport. More from The Times.

• Keswick, however cool it is, will soon be without a tourist information centre. The centre, operated by LDPNA at Keswick’s Moot Hall, will close at the end of the month due to rent rises, although the authority has assured Keswick Town Council that the search for an alternative site is “ongoing”.

• …It’s not the only Keswick institution with its future under discussion. The Town Council is to consider alternative ways of managing the annual Christmas lights switch-on after concerns were raised over safety at the crowded 2025 event. More from The Keswick Reminder.

• Meanwhile a new tenant has been found for Brockhole, home of the UK’s first national park visitor centre. LDPNA is reported to have selected a new (as yet unnamed) operator to take on its flagship property, with contracts being finalised. More from Cumbria Crack.

• Cumbrian authorities are among the worst in the country for repairing potholes. Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council have both been given a red rating on the Department for Transport’s new ‘name and shame’ road maintenance ratings map for the condition of their roads and their effectiveness in carrying out repairs, placing them in the bottom 13 of 154 English authorities. Westmorland and Furness Council director Angela Jones has challenged her council’s red rating: “Road condition isn’t simply a measure of council performance,” she said, “it reflects historic funding levels, traffic volumes, network size and weather impacts.” Fingers crossed the potholes are filled for Le Tour. More from Cumbria Crack.

• A long-term project to support upland communities is being extended to Cumbria. The Uplands Transformation Project, led by social entrepreneur Dr Hilary Cottam and the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), recognises the unique challenges faced by upland farms and the rural communities they’re part of. Launching in Dartmoor and extending to Cumbria, the long-term partnership will “develop a place-based approach for what these communities need”, Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds told the Oxford Farming Conference. She also confirmed that DEFRA will reopen the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) later this year with reforms to prioritise smaller farms and extend the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme for a further three years.

• New public space protection orders (PSPOs) are to be introduced at Blea Tarn (Langdale), Coniston East Shore and Windermere West Shore. The three National Trust sites are among five locations chosen by Westmorland and Furness Council to receive greater protection against anti-social behaviour and environmental damage. PSPOs enable council staff and police to issue fixed-penalty notices for infractions such as fly-camping, irresponsible firelighting and dog fouling. Ninety per cent of respondents to a public consultation supported the orders, said the council, which has launched another consultation on the introduction of PSPOs in parts of Ambleside, Hartsop, Coniston, Haweswater, Ullswater and Windermere. More from the BBC.

• Rare lichens are thriving in Borrowdale. A recent survey carried out at Watendlath by the National Trust and British Lichen Society found a range of rare species, some of which had not been identified in the valley before. The Trust said traditional pollarding increased tree stability and enabled lichens to flourish in the Borrowdale Valley, home to England’s largest temperate rainforest. But it added that the valley’s ancient woodlands and the lichens they support (we spoke about them in Countrystride #106) were under “significant pressure” due to ash dieback, air pollution and climate change. More from the BBC.

• Tributes have been paid to “bookselling legend” Gwenda Matthews after her death, aged 74. The founder and owner of Bookcase and Bookends in Carlisle and Keswick, who started selling books at Whitehaven market nearly 50 years ago, also played a key role in the development of the Borderlines book festival in Carlisle and the relaunch of Words by the Water at Theatre by the Lake. Gwenda’s daughter Lucy Matthews described her as “a hard-working, strong and enterprising businesswoman who did so much to support reading in Cumbria”.

  More from News & Star.

• A West Cumbrian marathon runner who has raised more than £2 million for good causes in his local community has been made MBE. Gary McKee of Cleator Moor, nicknamed Marathon Man for challenges such as running 365 marathons in 365 days, received the honour in the King’s New Year Honours List for services to charity. Other Cumbrians made MBE include Dave Barrington, treasurer of Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team, who has been a mountain rescue volunteer for more than 50 years, and cinema champion Charles Morris, who ran The Royalty in Bowness for 32 years and rescued the Roxy in Ulverston. For the full list of honours, see cumbriacrack.com/2025/12/29/new-year-honours-for-cumbrians-3/

  

• Westmorland and Furness Council (WFC) has announced it is working on the creation of a new long-distance footpath. The Westmorland and Furness Way (above) will run for 120 miles between Alston in the north and Furness Abbey in the south. The route – which uses parts of existing long-distance trails, including Alfred Wainwright’s Pennine Journey and the Dales Way – comes hot on the heels of another new local trail, The Roof of England Way (see Hefted past). Councillor John Murray, WFC cabinet member for Transport and Regulatory Services, said: “We hope it will eventually become as popular as other famous long-distance routes, like the Coast-to-Coast path, Pennine Way or Cumbria Way”. More from facebook.com/photo?fbid=898656322841639&set=a.206834345357177

• The new year has also brought official National Trail status for the Coast to Coast Walk linking St Bees and Robin Hood’s Bay. More than 6,000 ramblers a year follow the route created by fell-walking doyen Alfred Wainwright, bringing around £7 million into local economies. National Trail designation will mean extra funding and maintenance to ensure the route can cope with extra footfall and create sections accessible to all users. More from Cumbria Crack.

• And finally… Brody, the polar-bear-sized Pyrenean mountain dog whose search for new lodgings we reported last month, has found his forever home. Animal Concern Cumbria in Egremont received hundreds of enquiries after appealing for an experienced owner to rehome the 66kg giant. In an update, they shared a photo of him snoozing beside his hew housemates: a poodle and a bunny rabbit. More from The Westmorland Gazette.

Chatting as we wander – through dense clag and worsening rain – we meet walker Richard Jennings, who completed his 214 at 2:14 on the 21st of the fourth, 2014 (definitely not an obsessive!), and who credits AW with his move to the Lakes.

We catch up with geographer-legend Chris Jesty – the only person authorised by AW to update his Guides – who chats about camping on Scafell Pike for six months “waiting for clear weather”, about the 10-year three-month update odyssey, and why the Howgills and Outlying Fells are his backwater favourites.

Arriving at Dubs Hut, we are joined by brothers Mike and Paul Duff from Kendal. who accompanied dad Percy and Betty Wainwright onto Haystacks in March ‘91 to scatter AW’s ashes, and who recall their old family friend – the “foreigner from Blackburn” who sunk roots deep in Westmorland.

Anna Nolan from Keswick is our next guest – a bagging record-breaker currently on her 11th round of the Wainwrights by bus, with a cumulative tally of 6,000+ fells and counting.

Sculptor Clive Barnard recounts his experience of working with AW on the bronze bust now resident in Kendal Museum, remembering the ‘big, amiable bear’ with a commercially savvy mind who made “awful” cups of tea.

In thickening clag, we meet Chris and Lorena Linke from Florida, who fell in love with long-distance walking after completing AW’s Coast to Coast Walk, and who discuss the under-acknowledged community created by the C2C, life lessons taught on through-walks, and the unique storytelling artistry of the Guides.

Arriving at our pilgrimage end-point of Innominate Tarn, we pay our respects to former Westmorland Gazette print manager Andrew Nichol – one of the unsung heroes of the AW story, who did so much for the ex-fellwanderer, his book sales and his profile.

Closing our last pod of 2025 beside the hallowed ‘gravely shore’ of the tarn, Chris and his wife Priscilla reflect on Andrew’s legacy, and the poignant ‘guard of honour’ final trip he made onto Haystacks to say farewell to his old friend.

Happy New Year to all, from Mark and Dave.

• Chris’s extensive archive of articles about AW’s books and memorabilia can be found at alfredwainwright.co.uk/

• Anna Nolan’s books about fell-bagging and walking in the Lakes can be found at bookguild.co.uk/our-authors/anna-nolan

• Richard Jennings has created The Lakeland Way – a 144 mile walk through the valleys and mountain passes of the Lake District. See here for more.

• Inspired by the Coast to Coast Walk, Chris and Lorena Linke made a film about the Herriot Way. The story behind it can be found at alfredwainwright.co.uk/the-herriot-way/

• The film of Andrew Nichol’s journey to Innominate Tarn can be found at youtube.com/watch?v=UpLVp20qIJE&t=330s

• Chris Jesty’s beautiful summit panoramas can be enjoyed here: viewfinderpanoramas.org/panoramas/ChrisJestyPanoramas.html

• With many thanks to Chris for making the day and recording happen.

• And with thanks to the team at Honister for driving some of our guests to Dubs Hut, and to Tom McNally for arranging the transport.

Join Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley skating on Derwent Water; ‘Hunsup through the wood’ with the Christmas waits; take a gastronomic journey through Cumbrian culinary history starting with the Romans and their winter Satarnalia; and enter the weird world of wholesome lectures and gymnastics (no rice! no sugar!) at Blennerhasset.

Advancing in time, we hear letters from the 1914 Christmas Truce; attempt to make a turkey from breadcrumbs; head ‘Down t’Lonnin’‘ with Sue and descend on Keswick for the Old Folk’s Christmas Do before playing out with the raucous ‘Bleckel’ Merry Neet’.

...All this and more in the penultimate Countrystride of 2025, before Mark signs off revealing the toys of his childhood, and why Santa won’t be downing any bitter this year.

Mark and Dave extend to all listeners a very Happy Christmas.

• If you’d like to be kept informed about future events, simply sign up to our newsletter midway down this page: ountrystride.co.uk

• You can buy Alan’s A Lake District Christmas, which includes various of the readings and poems from the Cumbrian Christmas Cracker – including ‘Down’t Lonning’ here.

• Sue’s book on The Cumberland Bard – Robert Anderson of Carlisle can be found here.

• Mike and Carolyn play in Striding Edge. More from them can be found here.

The gather: Pick of the Cumbrian headlines

• Cumbria’s new mayor (if/when they’re elected) will have powers to charge visitors for overnight stays under proposals announced by the Government in the Autumn Budget. The levy – which could be used to fund investment in transport, infrastructure and the visitor economy – has been welcomed by landscape charity Friends of the Lake District (FoLD), whose CEO Michael Hill said the visitor charge “would help to break the cycle of increasing tourism impacts and decreasing grants to local authorities to deal with them”. Despite YouGov research showing support among both residents of Cumbria and visitors for a visitor levy, Lake District hotelier Paul Callingham – chairman of Windermere Manor Hotel-owner Starboard Hotels – told the BBC the levy risked deterring potential guests and adding an “increased burden on hoteliers at a time when the industry is already under pressure”. A consultation on the proposal closes on 18 February. More at gov.uk/government/news/levy-on-overnight-trips-will-help-mayors-invest-in-local-growth

• Did the earth move for you? Houses shook in Kendal, Ulverston and other South Cumbrian communities when a 3.3 magnitude earthquake struck on the Cumbria/Lancashire border on Wednesday 3 December at 23.23. The epicentre was in Silverdale, where a parish councillor described feeling as if her house was “disintegrating” around her. More from the BBC.

• Markus Campbell-Savours has lost the Labour whip after voting against Government plans to impose inheritance tax on farms. The Penrith and Solway MP said he had promised local voters before the election that Labour would not touch the tax relief on inherited farmland and that “when the good people of Penrith and Solway decide my time here is up, I intend to walk around my community knowing that I did all I could for them”. The initial vote on the farm tax plan was approved by 327 votes to 182. Campbell-Savours now sits as an Independent MP. More from the BBC.

• A fellwalker who has spent the past few Christmas Days leading walks up Latrigg “to provide company for those living on their own over the festive period” will be pulling on his Santa suit again next week. Jay Mistry, a Wainwright and Nuttall bagger who lives in Huddersfield, will lead a six-mile walk up Latrigg on Christmas Day and a 10-mile walk up Cat Bells on Boxing Day, both starting at Keswick’s Moot Hall (10am), followed by drinks in Keswick for anyone who wants to drop by. “A lot of people… have said that it makes a big difference to their lives,” says Jay, who welcomes solo walkers, couples, families, friends, children and dogs on his multi-ability hikes. More at facebook.com/groups/2808208519492624/user/100001482597726

• A controversial proposal to extend a car park in Pooley Bridge near Ullswater has been withdrawn by the applicant. Permission to extend Eusemere car park had been sought on two previous occasions; the first application was withdrawn in 2023 and the second was refused by LDPNA planners in 2024. Many local residents had opposed the fresh proposal for a 0.7 hectare extension with new toilet block and information area, launching an online petition (670 signatures and counting) to stop it on the grounds that it would exacerbate the “daily queues, congestion and heavy footfall that residents endure”. But in late October Barton and Pooley Bridge Parish Council agreed to support the application, while raising concerns about highway safety. No reason has been given for the proposal’s withdrawal. More from News & Star.

• He’s the size of a small polar bear, eats a kilo of biscuits a day and likes to have a sofa to himself. If he sounds like the sort of companion you’d like to share your life with, Animal Concern Cumbria awaits your call. The rescue charity in Egremont is seeking a new home for “loveable giant” Brody, a six-year-old Pyrenean Mountain Dog whose fluffy coat and shiny dark eyes have brought him national media attention. Only experienced owners need apply: “He needs someone who knows the breed… because they are very different than most dogs,” said rehoming manager Lauren Pickthall. More from the BBC.

• Film students making a documentary about wild camping have been rescued… while wild camping. Keswick Mountain Rescue Team (KMRT) was alerted by police to the students on Rosthwaite Fell after heavy rainfall and high winds that blew down two of the party’s three tents. “When one of them asked, ‘Do you have the camera?’ we enquired if they were making a film,” KMRT wrote on Facebook. “They might need to re-write the film script!”.

• One of the most famous viewpoints in Cumbria may soon reopen, four years after it was closed due to unfounded subsidence fears. Ruskin’s View on Church Brow in Kirkby Lonsdale – where the aspect over the river Lune and Lune Valley was painted by Turner, admired by Wordsworth and described by John Ruskin as “one of the loveliest” in England – was closed by Cumbria County Council in 2021 due to fears that river erosion had made the footpath accessing it unstable. But a technical team, which has been monitoring the path for months, says there is no “significant’ movement and that it “should never have been closed”. Westmorland and Furness Council says it will survey the site and carry out remedial works “to ensure the path can be safely reopened in the coming weeks”. More from the BBC.

• Campaigners for a Right to Roam in England and Wales have welcomed the Government’s commitment to strengthening rights to access in its recently published Environmental Improvement Plan. However, they expressed frustration that the deadline for publishing the new Access to Nature Green Paper promised in the plan is ‘during this Parliament’, which could be as late as 2029.

• Fifty billion litres of treated sewage have flowed into Windermere since 2017, according to new figures released by United Utilities. While public attention has focused “on the tens of thousands of hours of untreated sewage discharged into Windermere and waterbodies around the country”, treated sewage has been “flowing into our lake quietly, legally and contantly for years” according to campaign group Save Windermere. The consequences of this pollution are starkly illustrated in a new 12-minute film fronted by Save Windermere founder Matt Staniek, who contrasts the algae-choked rivers downstream of the treatment plants in Ambleside and Grasmere with the sparkling, clear waterways upstream and asks “Why is farming being blamed for something that is clearly caused by sewage?” Watch it here and sign the petition to stop the pollution here.

• Tree seedlings that will eventually become part of the new Atlantic rainforest at the Back of Skiddaw are being nurtured by volunteers at a Cumbrian mental health charity. Cumbria Wildlife Trust is supplying locally sourced seeds from 20 native species, including oak, rowan, aspen and hawthorn, to Growing Well, which helps people recover from mental health difficulties through supported horticultural volunteering. Its site at Tebay Services has a tree nursery, where volunteers are planting and tending the seeds until seedlings can be planted on England’s highest nature reserve. More from The Keswick Reminder.

• Kendal’s Quaker Tapestry Museum has closed due to high running costs. Less than six months after winning the Small Visitor Attraction category in this year’s Cumbria Tourism Awards, the museum said “income received from paying visitors and other sources has failed to keep pace with regular leaps in running costs”. The museum displayed around 40 embroidered panels from a 77-panel tapestry created during the 1980s and ’90s by 4,000 people from 15 countries. More from the BBC.

• An “existential threat” to Sandscale Haws National Nature Reserve and its population of natterjack toads has been averted thanks to local campaigners. Westmorland and Furness Council refused an application by property developer ILM Group to build a holiday resort at Roanhead near Barrow-in-Furness after more than 10,000 people signed a petition organised by the campaign group Save Roanhead to oppose it. The National Trust, Cumbria Wildlife Trust and FoLD also objected to the proposal. FoLD planning officer Leanne Parr said that in her 20-year career she’d never seen so much “strength of objection”. More from the BBC.

• A new long-distance walking route that starts and ends in Appleby-in-Westmorland has been given a rave (if weatherbeaten) review in The Guardian. Rhiannon Batten covered a 50-mile section of the 188-mile Roof of England Walk, which showcases the North Pennines landscape across three counties and takes in lofty Cumbrian landmarks such as High Cup and Cross Fell (sadly missed by the writer, who set off from Alston before “striding across the top of the world” to Edmundbyers in County Durham via Haltwhistle, Allendale and Blanchland in Northumberland).

• :-( Kendal has plummeted down Rightmove’s happiness chart, coming 30th in the property website’s annual ‘Happy at Home’ index after being ranked 15^th in last year’s survey of the UK’s happiest places. The property website surveyed thousands of people in more than 200 locations across the UK about the places where they live, gathering views on factors including friendliness, green space and job opportunities. Skipton in North Yorkshire is this year’s winner, while Carlisle (the only other Cumbrian place in the chart) came 85^th. More from Time Out.

• The UK’s largest floating solar farm is coming to the Port of Barrow. Comprising 46,500 solar panels capable of powering 14,000 homes a year, the floating array in Cavendish Dock has been approved by Westmorland and Furness Council. Cumbria Bird Club had opposed the development due to fears for the lapwings and curlews that nest and feed in the dock, but developer Associated British Ports said its proposal included measures to improve biodiversity. More from the BBC.

• A lost village’s church organ has been sold at auction for £700. The reed organ was saved from Mardale church in the 1930s before the village was flooded to create Haweswater. More from the BBC.

• Anglers have won the right to keep using electric-powered boats on small lakes including Bassenthwaite. The Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) had proposed updating the 1971 bylaws (which ban power-driven vessels propelled by internal combustion engines) to include more modern electric-powered boats, to improve safety for wild swimmers and other lake users. But following protests by anglers – backed by Penrith and Solway MP Markus Campbell-Savours – LDPNA adjusted their proposals. “We have listened to what the anglers are saying,” said Park officer Steve Gaskell, adding that the LDNPA had added a “specific byelaw” to “ensure any angler will always be permitted to use electric-powered vessels for fishing purposes”. More from The Mail.

• Donald Campbell’s Bluebird will return to Coniston Water next May after the LDPNA agreed to let the vessel break the lake’s 10mph speed limit. The hydroplane in which Campbell fatally crashed in 1967 is now in the care of Coniston’s Ruskin Museum after being recovered and restored. The chair of the museum’s trustees, Jeff Carroll, said its planned return to the lake in mid May will be “a possibly one-time-only event to inspire a new generation”. More from the BBC.

• Conservationists are celebrating after three Atlantic salmon were filmed spawning in a Cumbrian river. West Cumbria Rivers Trust said the fish had migrated up to 5,000km to reach the river – which hasn’t been named to protect the fish – after the charity worked with farmers and other local groups to restore it. “Natural river processes have created new juvenile fish habitats, and allowed salmon to expand their spawning areas… this could help support greater juvenile salmon survival for this river,” said a project officer. More from the BBC.

• Sites in Workington and Ulverston have been inadvertently revealed as possible locations for a new munitions factory, according to The Guardian, which reports how the Ministry of Defence has identified a dozen places across England, Scotland and Wales being considered for the manufacture of explosives and ammunition as part of a £6bn programme to increase supplies as part of the Nato-wide rearmament push..

• A new Maryport arts venue is due to open in the spring. The former Carlton Cinema will become a 280-seat venue for arts, music and theatre, and will be managed as a community interest company. More from News & Star.

• Hefted readers who’ve been waiting to find out whether Keswick or Cockermouth was named the UK’s dog-friendliest town need wait no longer… The clue’s in the name... More from Cumbria Crack.

• Following an international appeal for his return, a stolen badger has returned home to Rydal’s Badger Bar. More from the BBC.

• And finally… Is that really Mrs Claus doing her Christmas shopping in Cockermouth? More from the BBC.

  ---

  Support us! Christmas gifts from the Hefted / Countrystride team (keep scrolling…!)

  Looking for last-minute stocking fillers? Dave’s company Inspired by Lakeland is shipping until 17 December (tomorrow), with bestsellers including Lakeland Book of the Year 2025 Cumbria – 1,000 Years of Maps, the new-for-2025 Lake District Trail and Fell Running Guide, our Cumbrian Insults tea-towel for any Stinjy Aal Carls and – back in stock – the best-selling 1,000-piece Christmas in Keswick jigsaw puzzle, plus dozens more gifts for the Lakes lover in your life. Browse here.

• …And Mark has printed a limited edition set of beautiful Lakeland linescape prints – you can find out more, and contact him directly, via his Bluesky.

Born in 1887 in Hanover, Lizzie introduces us to the pioneering modern artist, and the wandervogel ‘back to nature’ youth movement that was a reaction against capitalism and industrialisation. Pausing to enjoy views over Fairfield and Wansfell, we consider the scientific and social revolution of the ‘fizzing’ inter-war years and artists’ subversive responses to the rise of national socialism.

Finding himself on the Nazi’s list of degenerate artists, we follow Schwitters as he abandons his first immersive ‘Merzbau’ in flight to Norway and thence to internment on the Isle of Man, where the gregarious creative entertained inmates by crafting porridge towers and howling at the moon.

Introducing Edith ‘Wantee’ Thomas – Schwitters’ latter-day support and companion – we enter the artist’s Lakeland years, highlighting the confident, prolific and underacknowledged second artistic life (540 works in three years) that started when he settled in Ambleside, and the oft-epic walks he undertook as Westmorland became home.

Finally, we learn about the chance encounter that led Schwitters to the Cylinders Estate in Great Langdale, opposite the Langdale Estate – a one-time hangout of intellectuals, bohemians and artists, and his last great, unfinished work, the Merzbarn, in the woods north of Elterwater.

• Dr Lizzie Fisher is a curator and art historian, and principal of Higham Hall College – an educational trust supporting lifelong learning in the arts and humanities through a year-round programme of lectures, events, short residential courses and retreats in the Lake District. www.highamhall.com

• For more about the Cylinders Estate and the Merzbarn as it now is – in the care of the Factum Foundation – see here.

• Part of the Merzbarn’s wall was relocated for preservation to the Hatton Gallery, Newcastle in 1966, where it is on permanent display. For more information visit merzbarn.co.uk

With waves lapping against the boat, Eric introduces us to the pastime that has given him a career and lifelong passion; to game and coarse fishing; to lines, bait and olives.

Delving deep into the ‘mangroves’ of Manesty, we talk salmon on the world-class River Eden and introduce the ‘holy trinity’ glacial relics of Cumbria: the Arctic Charr, Schelly and Vendace.

After diversions aplenty (why ice made Keswick; the ‘floating island’ of Derwent Water; the monster Pike of Windermere), we consider the zen of fishing – immersion in nature, mysteries beneath the waves, a chance to properly talk.

Closing with our quickfire questions, Eric reveals his love for High Pike, the ODG, Wainwright’s Eastern Fells... and Cranstons.

• Eric’s book, Tales of a Lakeland Angler, is available here: medlarpress.com/Authors/eric-hope.html

• Eric’s guiding business, Hemmingways Fishing is here: hemmingwaysfish.co.uk/