I was 14 when I first started my adventures in the Lake District and now, 58 years later, I can look back with fond memories.

Usually a small group of us would plan a trip, collect the equipment we thought we would need and head into the hills. Sometimes we would have to revise our plans, mainly due to weather conditions, but obviously we survived.

We did not always get it right but we sorted out the problems and gained from the experience. As time progressed we ventured onto the crags, water and even the air but the best part was to plan these trips.

As the dictionary tells us, an adventure involves some aspect of risk and uncertainty about the final outcome. With experience, these could be kept to a minimum but you always had to expect and prepare for the unexpected.

Lately I have been aware of what I call faceless people in a windowless room, probably in distant cities, having strange ideas. This was brought home with a road sign on the M6 advising you to leave at J36 for the 'Lake District Peninsulars'! Where did that come from?

And now we have a group that is trying to make the Lake District an adventure capital. I’m sorry but you are years too late, it’s been that for as long as I can recall.

If they would tell the truth and say that they want to make into a circus with lots of thrills then OK.

A zip wire ride is not an adventure, it is a thrill. To experience it all you have to do is pay lots of money and leave everything to the organisers. You don’t have to train, plan, prepare - everything is done for you.

Those people who say a zip wire over Thirlmere would have little impact must be living on planet Zuss. A body sliding down the centre of a valley or flying over the road would be a major distraction and unsightly in the landscape.

Please leave the Lake District to evolve naturally as becomes a World Heritage Site.

John Leigh

Kendal