The Lake District

Fascinating facts about the Lake district

The Lake District National Park is England’s largest and covers 2,362 square kilometres / 912 square miles. It’s also the second largest in the UK after the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland.

Helvellyn is chosen as one of Britain’s most popular walks.

The unique sharp ridges of Helvellyn (Striding edge and Swirral edge) were sculpted by glaciers during the ice age.

Over the years, several people have died on Helvellyn. One of them is the famous artist Charles Gough who became popular after he died on Striding Edge in 1805. His remains were discovered three months later, while his loyal dog has managed to survive. It was believed that the artist was the first casualty of the mountain.

The Lake District is known for being the wettest place in England, and the small village of Seathwaite is officially the wettest inhabited place in England, with 3552 mm of rain each year.

The largest lake in the Lake District is Windermere at 14.8 square kilometres. It’s also the longest lake in England, at over 10 miles long. The second largest lake in the Lake District is Ullswater at a mere 8.9 square kilometres. The deepest lake is Wastwater at 74metre (243 feet). There is only one official lake – Bassenthwaite Lake. (all the others are ‘meres’ or ‘waters’

The top three highest mountains in the Lake District are as follows:

Scafell Pike at 978 metres (3210 feet) Scafell at 964 metres (3162 feet) Helvellyn at 950 metres (3114 feet)

Did you know the Cumberland sausage has a special protected status, meaning it can only be made in Cumbria (just like Champagne is only produced in the Champagne region of France!) Traditionally this variety of sausage is coiled, and contains a mix of herbs, spices and pepper.