The Lake District [antikvár]

When the ice melted it left a desolate land, bereft of beauty; but that land had the makings of charm, elegance and immense loveliness. The melting waters filled the rock hollows to form lakes, streams brought rich soils to the lowlands and greenery blanketed the mountains. Each year the snows return to the Lake District, but they do not bring desolation in their wake. Instead they bring their own kind of beauty as the icicles hang from the branches and the deep snows drift across the valleys.The huge dome of rock which is the Lake District was created by massive forces within the Earth more than 7 million years ago. The rocks which made up this dome date back a further 400 million years and were already greatly twisted and bent by earth movements. The great dome, which peaks at Scafell, was covered by extensive glaciers during the great Ice Ages which have engulfed Britain several times in the past million years. The immense weight of grinding ice carved deep, sheer-sided valleys from the dome, and it is these which we see today. The glaciers dumped piles of stones and debris at their end. Where these happened to block valleys lakes have formed, giving the name to the whole region. The ice carved different landscapes from the various rocks that underlie the dome. In the north the Skiddaw slates were wrought into smooth, rounded mountains while the volcanic rocks around Helvellyn and Scafell resulted in crags and cliffs. The Silurian strata of the south reveal an altogether softer and gentler landscape.But left to itself Nature would not have created the cover for the land we see today. The ice melted and was replaced by a wet, temperate climate which was ideal for trees. Sure enough the valleys and mountains were soon covered in dense forests, and would be to this day if it were not for man. The area was populated some 8,000 years ago, but it is only in the past millennium that man has come in enough numbers to affect the land. Viking farmers came to the region as raids turned to settlement, and they set to work on the valleys with a will. They felled the trees and farmed the land they cleared. The handiwork of these Scandanavian farmers can be seen at Gosforth, where stands a 15-foot-tall stone cross carved as a symbol of Christianity overcoming paganism. That same Christianity gave rise to the Cistercian abbeys, whose monks realised that sheep could be profitable when grazed on the hills. So the hills lost their forests and the Lake District acquired the face so familiar today. Ironically, it is conservationists who have opposed the Forestry Commission's plans to plant trees and return the area to its natural state.For many years the Lake District remained a land of sheep and farmers, then the poets arrived. William Wordsworth was born on April 7,1770, at Cockermouth and was soon at boarding school near Windermere before going on to Cambridge. It was, however, on his return to the Lake District at the age of 29 that he began to celebrate the region in his verse. The poetry he penned and the new, surfaced roads brought many people from across the nation. The beauty and tranquillity they found they passed on to others, so that by the time the railways came to the Lake District, the tourist boom was well under way.The trade has grown with the years and now thousands of people flock to the area every year. Few of them, however, come because of the poetry, they come for the fun and the scenery. The bright sails of yachts and dinghies speckle the waters of Lake Windermere, the largest lake in England, and Ullswater. The hills surrounding the lakes are perfect walking country and hikers with muddy boots, plastic anoraks and over-large ruck-sacks are a common sight along the lanes and footpaths.It is not just the landscape created by Nature and man that draws the visitors, the entirely man-made towns and villages have a charm to be found nowhere else. Ambleside, Kendal, Appleby and Cockermouth are all beloved by travellers who stop to absorb some of the tranquillity and charm which they exude. More famous people have come to the Lake District and their homes provide even more reason for the popularity of the region. As well as Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter, John Peel and Coleridge have all lived among the mountains.Whether it is the natural or the manmade Lake District which appeals to the human senses is unimportant. Whatever the attraction of the area, it remains one of the most enchanting and beautiful regions of England.Facing page: autumn tinges the landscape of Watendlath.