Lake Windemere (England’s biggest body of water)
Lake Windermere is of course in the Lake District, England’s largest National Park. But very confusingly, it is not actually a lake (only one of the 16 is – Bassenthwaite’). All the others are waters, meres or tarns. Windermere is a mere, hence the name!
The town itself does suffer from huge over-tourism in summer, but the lake itself is very beautiful, quite narrow and surprisingly shallow. Formed by glaciers 12,000 years ago, it contains 18 islands and spans 10.5 miles.
Always follow the Countryside Code to keep all creatures safe. Keep dogs away from steep banks, mushrooms (and toxic plants/trees) and on leads near birds, barnyard friends and wild ponies.
Views from Orrest Head
Orrest Head is a short climb you can make from Windermere town. The view inspired writer Alfred Wainwright to fall in love and move to the area, and was the beginning of his famous guidebooks. Which of course included the coast-to-coast walk, which takes you from Cumbria to East Yorkshire.
This is a 238 meter fell that takes around 1 hour through Elleray Wood, which you can walk to from the local train station. At the top, you’ll enjoy a 360 degree panorama of not just Lake Windermere, but Scafell Pike, Bowfell, Great Gable and Coniston Fells.
The land was gifted to the public in 1902 by a local family. A slate diorama at the top, helps walkers to identify the surrounding fells.
The campaign to clean up sewage
Windermere (and surrounding areas including has big issues with raw sewage being pumped out by the water company). Not only is this unsafe for swimmers and dogs, but has killed a lot of local fish and native wildlife. Due to high phosphorus, toxic algae blooms and faecal bacteria (some swimmers literally found they were ‘swimming in poo’.
Positive things now appear to be happening for better sewage treatment, you can keep up to date with the campaign at Save Windermere.
There has been a 75% reduction of invertebrates on Wilfin Beck (Far Sawrey Wastewater Treatment Works) And a 64% reduction of invertebrates on the Rothay (Ambleside Wastewater Treatment Works)
The Windermere catchment generates £750 million from tourism each year. If someone were to get seriously ill or die as a result of pollution in Windermere, the impact on the
Dorothy Wordsworth was not amused!
The lake has 18 islands, and the biggest is Belle Isle, which features a unique circular house, built in the 18th century. Belle Isle house was built in 1774, with local writer Dorothy Wordsworth (sister of William) remarking that ‘one of the pleasantest spots on earth, has been deformed by man’. Apparently however William thought it was quite nice!
In 1895, the lake completely froze over
It goes without saying to ‘never skate on frozen lakes’, as we’ve all heard stories of the ice collapsing. But in 1895, people did just that when Lake Windermere completely froze. The ice reaches up to 9 to 18 inches thick for six weeks,
This freeze followed a severe winter storm in late 1894, which destroyed thousands of trees in the area. Of course during 2021 the same happened, when thousands of trees came down in Storm Arwen, which often caused havoc elsewhere (three people died after being hit by falling trees, a puppy died from hypothermia after a roof flew off at an animal shelter, and many seals died at a nature reserve near the Scottish borders).
It’s thought that it will take decades for many of the forests to return to their former glory. And this is the danger of politicians who refuse to believe climate science, as the same could happen again if proper plans are not put in place. Climate science is real, MP media soundbites are not.
