At more than 7 miles in length, Ullswater is the second largest of the lakes, and arguably the most picturesque; in his guidebook Wordsworth called it ‘… the happiest combination of beauty and grandeur…’. This is perhaps because the lake twists and turns more than any of the other lakes, having three almost distinct sections. The grandest of these is at the head of the lake where the village of Glenridding nestles under the foothills of Helvellyn, England’s third highest mountain (height 951m). This is the main starting-point for the walk up Helvellyn, via its famous ridge, Striding Edge; anyone needing advice or directions for this route should call in at the National Park Information Centre which can easily be found on the main carpark. For anyone who prefers a flatter walk, one of the classic lakeshore routes also starts from here. This begins by catching one of the cruisers down the lake to Howtown on Ullswater’s quiet south-eastern shore, then walking back to Glenridding. The distance for this is almost 7 miles.
At the head of Ullswater is the village of Patterdale, an excellent place to begin several walks on the mountains. The main valley here stretches south for over 5 miles, climbing up to the Kirkstone Pass, the highest road in the Lake District. The pass takes its name from the distinctive boulder on the west side of the road, which from some angles resembles a church tower. There is also a pub at the top of the pass, the Kirkstone Pass Inn, which is of course the highest pub in The Lakes.
Patterdale has its own little lake, Brothers Water, and tucked away in a side-valley nearby is the hamlet of Hartsop. This is a convenient starting-point for High Street (828m), the highest mountain east of Patterdale. The mountain’s rather urban-sounding name was taken from the Roman road which crosses its summit, running from Windermere to the fort at Penrith. The mountains here tend to form long ridges with wide, flat tops and steep sides; it seems that the Romans preferred this terrain over routes through the valleys where they might be more easily ambushed.
Perhaps the most popular walk on this eastern side of the valley is from Patterdale to Place Fell (height 657m). Place Fell rises steeply on the corner of the upper and middle reaches of Ullswater, an excellent position giving it panoramic views across this whole area. Almost as popular is the walk to Angle Tarn, which sits in a little hollow on the ridge 2 miles south of Place Fell. There are fine views over Patterdale from the walk, and then views of Helvellyn from the tarn.
The landscape around the foot of Ullswater tends to be gentler and more open, with fields running down to the shores of the lake. At the foot of the lake is the lovely little village of Pooley Bridge: this a popular boarding-point for Ullswater Steamers, and perhaps the best place to start the cruise, as the views ahead are steadily revealed by the twists of the lake on the way to Glenridding.
The area around Pooley Bridge is rich in ancient remains. Immediately north of the village is the steep, little hill of Dunmallet, and hiding amongst the trees on its summit is an Iron Age hill fort. South of the village a track leads up into the hills to Moor Divock where there are several ancient burial cairns, a standing stone and a small stone circle. The High Street Roman road also passed this way, heading towards the Roman fort near Penrith, although there is almost nothing to be seen of it here now. Nearby is Heughscar Hill (375m) which has an excellent view of Ullswater snaking away towards the mountains of the Helvellyn range.
South west of Pooley Bridge a lane leads down the quiet side of Ullswater, to the little cluster of buildings at Howtown. The road then climbs steeply up a mountain pass simply known as The Hause; from here there is suddenly a view of two deep valleys surrounded by mountains. Beyond The Hause the lane narrows and descends into Martindale, it divides several times, but all routes are dead-ends as there is no way through on this side of Ullswater (except by foot of course). For anyone who has ventured this far, the best thing to do is to park at The Hause and climb the little hill immediately to the north. This is Hallin Fell (388m), one of Lakeland’s best-loved little mountains, which has excellent views of Martindale and Ullswater.
On the north shore of the middle reach of Ullswater is Gowbarrow Park, most famous now for Aira Force, one of Lakeland’s most beautiful waterfalls. The park was enclosed as a deer park in the Middle Ages, and was then landscaped in the late 18th Century; this included the building of a hunting lodge and the stone bridges around the waterfalls. Rising above Aira Force is Gowbarrow Fell; there is an excellent path across the side of this rugged hill which gives some of the best views across the lake.
Gowbarrow Park also has a memorable place in literature as it was along the lake-shore here in April 1802 that William Wordsworth saw the dancing daffodils that feature in his most famous poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.
Rising steeply above Glenridding is Helvellyn, England’s third highest mountain (height 951m), and one of its most famous. There is a choice of routes to the summit of Helvellyn, the shortest are from the Thirlmere side, but all routes are steep and rough in places. For walkers with steady nerves, the routes from Glenridding on the east side of Helvellyn are the most exhilarating; the route leading along the narrow ridge of Striding Edge is one of the most challenging in England. Although longer, the routes from the east tend to reveal the best of the mountain’s dramatic scenery, such as Red Tarn, the mountain lake which lies in a craggy hollow, 220m below the summit. The tarn is worth visiting in its own right, and there is a good route up from Glenridding of about 3 miles each way.
Stately homes are almost completely absent from the centre of the Lake District, but there is a cluster of them here on its north-eastern fringe. This includes Greystoke Castle, Hutton-in-the-Forest and Dalemain which is famous for its Marmalade Festival. But perhaps the most striking of them is Lowther Castle. Today this huge, sprawling building has a distinctly fairy-tale quality, mainly because it is now essentially a ruin. The castle was built at the start of the 19th Century by William Lowther, the Earl of Lonsdale, who was then one of the richest men in England. However, in the early 20th Century the family’s fortunes waned, and in the Second World War the castle was requisitioned by the army. When the castle was returned to the family in the 1950s it was felt to be too expensive to maintain, so the roof and much of the internal structure was removed, leaving little more than a shell. Today the façade and mock battlements are still well preserved, but with its empty windows there is an eerie, ghostly feel about the building.
South-east of Ullswater is Haweswater; this is one of the wilder lakes in the National Park, but like Thirlmere, Haweswater is actually a reservoir supplying water to Manchester. Originally there was a peaceful, little village here, Mardale Green, as well as a lake about 2½ miles long. Although there was opposition to the project, work started in 1929, to build a dam 90 feet high. The work took 6 years, raising the water level by 95 feet, and more than doubling the size of the original lake. During times of drought when the water level falls, the remains of the village are exposed, attracting hundreds of people to see the ruins.
The north-eastern fringe of the Lake District near Haweswater was also once rich in ancient monuments, although tantalisingly little now remains. In the area around Shap there are the remains of several stone circles and a stone row, including the wonderfully named Goggleby Stone. One mile west of Shap, and tucked into a little valley is Shap Abbey. This was founded in the late 12th Century by the Premonstratensian order of monks, with the tower dating to the 15th Century.
