Great Natural Wonders

Formed by molten volcanic lava and sculptured by ice, the Lake District's dramatic mountain ranges and the lush valleys and beautiful lakes they dominate have inspired poets, artists and writers for more than two centuries.

Such is the richness and variety of this scenery, it is easy to forget that there are other equally inspiring natural landscapes close by, from the dramatic hills, valleys and rivers of the Yorkshire Dales in the east to the beautiful, wildlife rich estuaries and coastline in the west.

Here we take a close look at some of these outstanding natural wonders.

Piel Island from Rampside (Cumbria Tourism picture)

MAJESTIC MOUNTAINS AND INSPIRING HILLS

There are 155 Lake District fells over 2,000 ft in height and the highest of them all is the boulder strewn summit of Scafell Pike. At 3,210 feet (978m) it is also the highest point in England.

Scafell was formed as a result of volcanic eruptions about 450 million years ago. The mountain has three principal summits, Broad Crag (3,054 ft, 931m) Ill Crag (3,040 ft, 927m) and Scafell Pike itself. The first recorded climb was made in 1802, by Robert Southey, a friend of the poet William Wordsworth. Nowadays, at the height of the summer season, all five routes to the summit can be very busy. Scafell is a long slow climb, but not a particularly difficult one. The corridor route from Sty Head is the easiest way of approach. The panorama seen from the summit is spectacular with views over Wastwater to the west and the Langdale Pikes to the east.

Helvellyn (3,116 ft, 950m) is the highest point in a great ridge of fells, is the most frequently climbed mountain in the Lake District and also offers unbeatable and spectacular views of the panorama of the Lake District from the its summit, on a clear day almost every fell in the area can be seen.

Helvellyn's most dramatic feature is Striding Edge , a knife-edged ridge which has, in the past, gained a fearsome reputation among walkers and must be treated with care. In winter when under snow and ice it becomes almost alpine and requires special skill and care - there are more accidents on Helvellyn than on any other mountain in the Lake District.

The distinctive triangular mound of Skiddaw dominates the Keswick skyline. Skiddaw is the fourth highest mountain in the Lake District at 3,054 feet (921m)

There is a tourist track to the summit from a car park to the north east of Keswick. Skiddaw is the only mountain in the Lake District to possess good tracks to the summit which do not involve scrambling. The views from the summit are spectacular.

The Howgills

The Lakeland fellwalking guru Alfred Wainwright described the Howgills as looking like a herd of sleeping elephants. They certainly provide a wonderfully rounded vista as you head away eastwards from the Lakes and over the M6 motorway to the Yorkshire Dales.

The Howgill fells offer a less-craggy walking experience than the Lakeland fells, with many grassy paths to walk on. And there is some fine scenery, not least looking back to the fells or over the top of Kendal to Morecambe Bay.

You can walk from Sedbergh and without too much difficulty make The Calf , the highest point in the Howgills. Other summits that can be taken in on the same walk are Arant Haw , Winder Fell , Calders and Bram Rigg .

Yorkshire Dales Three Peaks

The Yorkshire Dales offers a lot of walking, but the undoubted classic challenge involves conquering the three Yorkshire peaks � Pen-y-Ghent , Whernside and Ingleborough � in less than 12 hours.

The walk is around 23 miles, depending on the slight route variations you can take, and generally begins with Pen-y-Ghent, which rises above the official starting and finishing point of the challenge, the Three Peaks Café at Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

After Pen-y-Ghent, which is 2276 ft high (694m), you tackle the highest peak, Whernside at 2414 ft (736m) and finally Ingleborough, rising to 2371 ft (723m).

Walkers interested in prehistory are likely to find Ingleborough the most alluring of three peaks as it was once the site of a Neolithic settlement.

LAKELAND PASSES

Hardknott Pass is a challenging driving experience. It is bleak and rugged and, with a gradient of 1 in 3, is one of the Lake District's steepest and most intimidating routes. The pass, which can be accessed via Boot in Eskdale, has some of the most stunning scenery for the tourist to take in as it climbs to its summit of 1291 ft (393m). The Roman emperor Hadrian built a fort on a plateau close to Hardknott, known as Mediobocdum.

The dramatic and windswept Honister Pass links Buttermere with Seatoller in Borrowdale. The 1,176 ft (358m) climb is spectacular, but being very winding and with gradients of 1 in 4 it is not suitable for caravans. At the summit of the pass is the Honister Slate Mine, a working mine which is also a popular visitor attraction.

At 1,489 ft (454m) and with a gradient of 1 in 4, Kirkstone Pass is the highest pass in the Lake District open to public traffic.

The road, which links Windermere with Ullswater, snakes through spectacular scenery. The Kirkstone Pass Inn, the third-highest public house in England, occupies an exposed position at the top of the pass.

Wrynose Pass links at its western end to Hardknott Pass, close to Cockley Beck. The road then snakes up towards Little Langdale in the east, nestling beneath Cockley Beck Fell in the south and Ulpha Fell in the north. In places the pass has a 1 in 3 gradient. Wrynose, like the other passes, takes you through some of the most beautiful and dramatic scenery to be found anywhere in the Lake District.

THE LAKES

Bassenthwaite Lake is the most northerly of the Cumbrian lakes and the fourth largest area of water within the Lake District National Park. The lake, which is four miles long, is home to an extremely rare fish, the vendace.

Close to the attractive village of Hartsop, Brothers Water is a small lake two miles south of Ullswater, towards Kirkstone Pass.

Buttermere is situated in dramatic setting alongside the B5289 (to Cockermouth). It is one and a half miles long and nearly half a mile wide and is surrounded by high fells, with Buttermere Fell to the east. Buttermere village lies around a third of a mile from the water at the north end of the lake.

Lying east of and parallel to Windermere, Coniston Water is five and a half miles long. Coniston is famed for its connection with speed ace Donald Campbell, who was killed in his boat Bluebird as he attempted a world water speed record on the lake in 1967. Passenger ferries operate on the lake, most notably a Victorian steam gondola, and visitors can hire rowing and motorboats.

Crummock Water's southern tip is less than a mile from the north shore of Buttermere. The lake is two and a half miles long and is dominated to its east by several fells more than 2000 ft high.

The third largest of the Cumbrian lakes is Derwentwater , to the south of Keswick. The lake is three miles long and one and a quarter miles wide. Derwentwater has four very scenic islands, two of which are owned by the National Trust. The lake is the only lake besides Bassenthwaite that supports the rare fish, the vendace. Visitors to the lake can travel on steam ferries or hire motor and rowing boats. Keswick is a major Lake District town offering a wide range of facilities.

Ennerdale Water in Western Lakeland is two and a half miles long. It is a tranquil lake, not overrun by tourism. Flanked to the north by Ennerdale Forest, the lake's nearest settlement of note is Ennerdale Bridge.

Elterwater in southern Lakeland is a small lake, just half a mile long. However, it is nestled in an idyllic location overlooked by the spectacular Langdale Pikes. Elterwater village offers accommodation and facilities.

Lying between Coniston and Windermere is the picturesque and tranquil Esthwaite Water . Villages close by are Hawkshead and Near Sawrey.

One of the most beautifully positioned of any of the Cumbrian lakes must be Grasmere , situated alongside the main route from Windermere to Keswick. The one-mile long lake is joined to Rydal Water by the River Rothay. The lake and nearby Grasmere village are principal attractions for walkers and other visitors. Close by is Dove Cottage, which was home to the poet William Wordsworth.

Haweswater , a reservoir, is the highest lake in the Lake District at 240 metres above sea level. It is also further east and more isolated than any of the other lakes. Its remote position has made it an ideal location as home to the only colony of golden eagles in England. Beneath its waters, a rare and endangered fish called the schelly has its habitat.

Largely unaffected by tourism, Loweswater in north Lakeland is close to the western edge of the Lake District National Park. The woods along its south shore are home to red squirrels. Loweswater village, to the east, is the nearest settlement of note.

Rydal Water is the smallest, but one of the prettiest, of the Cumbrian lakes. It is just three quarters of a mile long and is at the southern end of the River Rothay, which connects the lake to Grasmere. The lake is overlooked by Rydal Mount, which was home for the poet William Wordsworth for the last 37 years of his life.

Alongside the Windermere-Keswick road, north of Grasmere, is Thirlmere , a man-made reservoir supplying water to Greater Manchester. The surrounding coniferous woodland supports populations of red deer and red squirrels.

At seven and a half miles long, Ullswater is the second largest of the Cumbrian lakes. Passenger ferries ply the lake between Glenridding, Howtown and Pooley Bridge at the north end of the lake. It was in a wood on the banks of the lake that Wordsworth encountered a �host of golden daffodils�, inspiring his most famous poem. Ullswater is the only Cumbrian lake besides Haweswater which supports the schelly, a rare fish.

Wast Water with a depth of 260 feet is England's deepest lake. It lies in the western Lakes beneath England's highest mountain, Scafell. The lake is three miles long by half a mile wide. At its north end is the village of Wasdale Head.

England's largest lake � and the most commercialised � is Windermere in South Lakeland. It is ten miles long by a mile and a quarter wide. Steamers ferry passengers along a variety of routes on the lake and there is a scheduled ferry service from south of Bowness across to the western shore, which saves much driving for tourists wishing to visit Near Sawrey and Hawkshead. A significant landmark is Belle Isle, a large and imposing wooded island, which was landscaped in Georgian and Victorian times. It is named after Isabella Curwen, who once owned the island. There is a controversial speed limit on the lake for motorboats.

JOURNEYS TO THE SEA

The River Derwent and its tributaries is one of the finest large river systems in Europe, renowned for its salmon and trout fishing.

The river, whose name is derived from a Celtic word for oak trees, rises at Styhead Tarn underneath Scafell Pike and flows north through Borrowdale valley before arriving at Derwentwater. It flows on then towards Bassenthwaite Lake, picking up the waters of the River Greta, just outside Keswick. At Cockermouth, the Derwent joins the River Cocker and then flows into the Irish Sea at Workington.

Rising in the Pennines, east of the Lake District, the River Eden flows for 90 miles (145km) before it reaches the Irish Sea at Solway Firth.

The river's source is at Hell Gill above Mallerstang in the Upper Eden Valley and is fed by many Pennine becks from the east as well as a number of Lakeland rivers from the west, including the Lyvennet, Leith and Eamont. Famously, the river passes through Appleby-in-Westmorland, where it figures prominently in the annual New Horse Fair as a place where travellers traditionally bathe their horses.

The River Esk , which rises in the Scafell mountain range at a height of 2,624 ft (800m), is one of two River Esks in Cumbria, the other flowing much further north near the Scottish border.

Early in its journey, the river flows through beautiful landscapes, plunging down several dramatic waterfalls, before being joined by Lingcove Beck at Lincove Bridge and then Hardknott Beck.

The Esk � the name is Celtic for water � continues past Boot and Eskdale Green before flowing into the Irish Sea at Ravenglass.

Flowing for just 20 miles (32km), the River Kent is quite a short river, but nonetheless along with its tributaries, the Mint, Sprint and Gowan, is an important system in ecological terms, particularly as a habitat for the endangered white-clawed crayfish.

The Kent originates in the hills around Kentmere and flows into the north of Morecambe Bay, passing through Staveley, Burneside, Kendal and Sedgwick on the way. The rivers Gilpin and Winster join the Kent as it nears its estuary.

The river is particularly noted for its spring tidal bore, known as the Arnside Bore, half metre high wave, which forms in the estuary opposite Arnside.

The parish of Wath in Ravenstonedale is where the River Lune begins is 44-mile (71km) journey to the Irish Sea at Plover Scar near Lancaster.

The Lune Valley is in three parts, its northernmost section between Wath and Tebay known as Lunesdale. It then flows through the spectacular Lune Gorge before opening out into a broader valley known as Lonsdale. The medieval Devil's Bridge at Kirkby Lonsdale frames the river most dramatically for the photographer. The Lune, which gives its name to Lancaster and Lancashire, is a County Biological Heritage Site.

Although the River Ribble spends most of its seaward journey in Lancashire, it actually begins life in Yorkshire, in the shadow of the Yorkshire �three peaks' and close to that great railway monument that borrows its name, the Ribblehead Viaduct.

The river flows through Settle, Clitheroe and Preston before reaching the Irish Sea between Lytham St Anne's and Southport, a distance of 75 miles (120km).

The Ribble once marked the ancient northern boundary of the Kingdom of Mercia and in the 11 th century was the northern boundary of Cheshire.

The Ribble Way is a long-distance footpath, which follows the river for much of its course.

WILD WATERFALLS

Among the noteworthy waterfalls in the Lake District, perhaps the most frequently visited is the spectacular Aira Force , which can be found just off the road to Dockray village above Ullswater.

The fall is actually part of a landscaped Victorian park, now owned by the National Trust.

In the 1780s the Howard family of nearby Greystoke Castle owned a hunting lodge near to Aira Force and landscaped the area below the waterfall, planting over 200 specimens of cedars, firs, pines and spruces. The fall is mentioned in at least three of the poems of William Wordsworth, who visited the area frequently.

Cautley Spout is a dramatic fall in the Howgill Fells, around five miles north east of Sedbergh. It is actually a series of falls as Red Gill Beck plunges over the edge of Cautley Crags into a wide glacial corrie.

The spout, reckoned to be England's highest waterfall above ground, tumbles down 650 ft (199 m) before spilling into the River Rawthey. Of the four major drops, the longest measures 250 ft (76m).

Colwith Force is a spectacular waterfall on the River Brathay, which drains fells in the area of Langdale. The fall drops some 40 ft (12m).

Dungeon Ghyll plunges down a precipitous ravine from the southern face of Harrison Stickle in Great Langdale. William Wordsworth had the 60 ft (18m) cataract in mind when he wrote his poem The Idle Shepherd Boys . The waterfall can be reached from a footpath leading off from the route to Stickle Tarn.

Hell Gill Force in the Mallerstang Valley is close to the source of the River Eden, where Hell Beck Ghyll plunges into a narrow gorge. The waterfall, which can be easily be reached by path, is a single drop fall of around 25ft (8m). Hell Gill Beck marks the county boundary between Cumbria and Yorkshire.

The Lodore Falls are a series of cascades on Watendlath Beck that drop nearly 200 ft (61m). The falls can be reached from Derwentwater via a gate beside the Lodore Falls Hotel. The Lakeland poet, Robert Southey, who lived at nearby Keswick, immortalised the falls in his 1820 poem The Cataract of Lodore . The falls are private property and an honesty box is provided.

Scale Force is a dramatic fall on a stream, which flows into Crummock Water close to the village of Buttermere. Plunging down a wooded ravine, it is the highest waterfall in the Lake District, consisting of a single drop of water of 120 feet plus a series of other drops, which take the total fall to 170 feet.

Skelwith Force is a 15 ft (4.6m) waterfall, which is particularly spectacular after heavy rain. It is formed by the combined waters of the River Brathay and Langdale Beck as they plunge through rocks near the hamlet of Skelwith Bridge.

Stanley Ghyll Force is a 60 ft (18m) high waterfall which plummets down a deep gorge at Boot in Eskdale. With rhododendrons growing wild on ledges around the force, there should be no surprise that it has the reputation as the Lake District's most beautiful waterfall.

Stock Ghyll Force in Ambleside is a 70 ft (21m) waterfall which once provided the power to operate several fulling and bobbin mills. The force itself is a short walk from the centre of Ambleside, behind the Salutation Hotel.

THE NATURE OF THE COAST

Morecambe Bay

After the Wash, Morcambe Bay is the second largest bay in Britain and has the greatest continuous area of intertidal mudflats and sandflats. In fact, the Bay's sands are crammed so full of worms, tiny crustaceans and shellfish it is one of the finest habitats for birds in the whole of Europe.

Morecambe Bay also supports one of the largest areas of shingle beach habitat in Britain, now extremely rare throughout Europe, and saltmarsh plants such as the glasswort thrive there.

Some of the saltmarsh is grazed by sheep, providing a wonderfully flavoursome lamb.

Leighton Moss

Leighton Moss Nature Reserve, near Carnforth, is the largest remaining reedbed in north west England. The reserve is well-known as a haven for marsh harriers, bearded tits and avocets and is the only place in the region where bitterns are known to breed. Extensive work has been undertaken in recent years to restore and create reed beds to improve conditions for these elusive birds.

WONDERFUL WILDLIFE

Bittern

The bittern, which breeds exclusively in the North West at Leighton Moss Nature Reserve, is an elusive marshland bird requiring extensive reed beds and swamps with shallow water. It is a large bird, measuring up to 29 inches (60cm) in length, and the male has a distinctive booming call. The bittern has a varied plant and animal diet, but particularly likes to feeds on coarse fish, and has been known to take pike up to 14 inch (35cm) in length.

Golden eagle

Although golden eagles started revisiting the Lake District in the 1950s, they only returned to breed in 1969, re-colonising out of Scotland after being absent from England for 200 years. They have since been a spectacular sight soaring on the thermal currents high above Haweswater. Two female eagles produced around 16 offspring up to1996, but since then breeding has faltered, with the RSPB reporting no eggs being produced in four out of five years.

Natterjack toad

The rarest British amphibian, the natterjack toad is limited to sand dune habitats in Cumbria and Scotland. It survives � precariously � in the Eskmeal Dunes Nature Reserve near Ravenglass, under the watchful conservation eye of Cumbria Wildlife Trust, which leases the dunes from the Ministry of Defence. But while the natterjack toad � which has short back legs and sprints rather than hops � is legally protected from Man, it is tasty prey for hedgehogs, foxes, gulls, herons and badgers and very few toadlets survive to adulthood.

Ospreys

Ospreys first began nesting in Bassenthwaite lake in 2001, after an absence of 150 years. Since then the pair of adults has continued to successfully rear young. The osprey is spectacular bird of prey, which swoops low over the lake and catches fish by grabbing them with its powerful talons from just below the surface of the water. The ospreys at Bassenthwaite are monitored by the Lake District Osprey Project, whose members mount a 24-hour watch when any eggs are laid to ensure their protection.

Red Deer

The red deer, Britain's largest mammal, is present in very healthy numbers in the Lake District. Indeed, England's biggest wild herd roams the hills above Ullswater. Red deer are indigenous to Britain and, along with the other indigenous species roe deer, have proved themselves a resilient species, surviving the last Ice Age and thousands of years of being hunted by Man.

Red squirrels

Red squirrels are now so threatened in England, they have their own conservation zones, where landowners are encouraged to keep about the invidious American greys.

Populations are mainly concentrated in the north of Cumbria after a dramatic decline in South Lakeland over the last couple of decades. However, they are making a comeback in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, establishing a precarious population in the Hawes area. Cumbria Save Our Squirrels believe the reds in the Dales could have come from the fleeing South Lakeland population.

White-clawed crayfish

The red-grey squirrel conflict is being mirrored beneath the water of England's rivers. An American invader, the single crayfish, is gradually taking over the habitat of the native white-clawed crayfish. Fortunately, the larger incomer � which escaped from farms in the south of England where it was being bred for restaurants � has not yet taken a hold in the Lake District's rivers and streams and the native crayfish continues to thrive. The Yorkshire Dales also has many of the native species.