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92-505: The Bio-Strath tennis circuit was a series tour of British tennis tournaments that was sponsored by the Swiss company Bio-Strath AG. the circuit was inaugurated in May 1970 with six Midland tournaments, and one South East tournament. Each tournament being a particular leg on the circuit beginning with the 1st leg, that usually started around early April, and ending with the 10th and final leg around

184-583: A 30%+ Black British population. In contrast, the town of St. Helens in Merseyside, unusually for a city area, has a very low percentage of ethnic minorities with 98% identifying as White British. The City of Liverpool, over 800 years old, is one of the few places in Britain where ethnic minority populations can be traced back over dozens of generations: being the closest major city in England to Ireland, it

276-464: A boat is not essential), with premises located in Bowness the club house has views of the lake and surrounding fells. The LDBC also run a full programme of both social and racing events. The Windermere Cruising Association organises the popular Winter Series. This event benefits from not being hindered by the large waves, caused by gales, that often lead to sea racing being cancelled. The WCA also have

368-407: A full calendar of summer races which are open to all abilities. At the south end of the lake is South Windermere Sailing Club, based at Fell Foot park on the east shore. It was started in 1961 as a family sailing club and has been the starting point for many successful British dinghy racing competitors including British, European and world champions. The notoriously fluky wind on the lake has proved

460-417: A growth of ling), Hawes Holme, Hen Holme (also rocky and sometimes known as chair and Table Island from some old flags or slabs of stone that were formerly found there), Maiden Holme (the smallest island, with just one tree), Ramp Holme (variously called Roger Holme and Berkshire Island at different times in its history), Rough Holme, Snake Holme, Thompson Holme (the second largest), Silver Holme. Before 1974,

552-466: A hill in The Prelude , Book IV: Standing alone, as from a rampart’s edge, I overlooked the bed of Windermere, Like a vast river, stretching in the sun. With exultation, at my feet I saw Lake, islands, promontories, gleaming bays, A universe of Nature’s fairest forms Proudly revealed with instantaneous burst, Magnificent, and beautiful, and gay. Dove's Nest, at the foot of Wansfell ,

644-411: A maximum of 1 mile (1.6 km), and covers an area of 14.73 km (5.69 sq mi). With a maximum depth of 66.7 m (219 ft) and an elevation above sea level of 39 m (128 ft), the lowest point of the lake bed is well below sea level. There is only one town or village directly on the lakeshore, Bowness-on-Windermere , as the village of Windermere does not directly touch

736-684: A population of 7,417,397 in 2021. It is the third-most-populated region in the United Kingdom, after the South East and Greater London . The largest settlements are Manchester and Liverpool . The official region consists of the following subdivisions : After abolition of the Greater Manchester and Merseyside County Councils in 1986, power was transferred to the metropolitan boroughs , making them equivalent to unitary authorities. In April 2011, Greater Manchester gained

828-476: A successful training ground in learning to read the fast-changing wind. SWSC celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2011 and has developed a strong junior section under the coaching of Julie Tomkinson who in 2011 was honoured with an RYA Community Award for Outstanding Contribution. In 2015 Lakeland Rowing club set up a base at Fell Foot Park. The club grew quickly and has now separated from the Northern section of

920-755: A top-tier administrative body in the form of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority , which means the 10 Greater Manchester boroughs are once again second-tier authorities. North West England is bounded to the east by the Pennines and to the west by the Irish Sea . The region extends from the Scottish Borders in the north to the West Midlands region in the south. To its southwest is North Wales . Amongst

1012-501: A vehicle-carrying cable ferry , runs across the lake from Ferry Nab on the eastern side of the lake to Far Sawrey on the western side of the lake. This service forms part of the B5285 . There are also two summer only passenger ferries that cross the lake. One crosses from Lakeside station to Fell Foot Park at the southern end of the lake, whilst the other links Bowness with Far Sawrey. There are five large boating clubs based around

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1104-557: Is a ribbon lake in Cumbria , England, and part of the Lake District . It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the largest Scottish lochs and Northern Irish loughs . The lake is about 11 miles (18 km) in length and 1 mile (1.6 km) at its widest, has a maximum depth of 64 metres (210 ft), and has an elevation of 39 metres (128 ft) above sea level. Its outflow

1196-559: Is a hub for train and bus connections to the surrounding areas and is 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 miles (2 km) from the Waterbus jetty. There is a regular train service to Oxenholme on the West Coast Main Line, where there are fast trains to Edinburgh , Glasgow , Manchester Airport , Birmingham and London . The lake contains eighteen islands. By far the largest is the privately owned Belle Isle opposite Bowness . It

1288-470: Is around a kilometre in length, and 16 hectares (40 acres). Its older name was Lang Holme, and 800 years ago it was the centre of the manor of Windermere and later, in effect, of a moiety of the barony of Kendal . The other islands or "holmes" are considerably smaller. The word "holme" or "holm" means small island or islet and comes from Old Norse holmr (as in Stockholm ). The island of Lady Holme

1380-559: Is home to a significant ethnic Irish population, with the city being home to one of the first ever Afro-Caribbean communities in the UK, as well as the oldest Chinatown in Europe. The table below is not how many people belong to each ethnic group (e.g. a BBC News article in 2008 claimed there are over 25,000 ethnic Italians in Manchester alone whilst only 6,000 Italian-born people live in

1472-467: Is named after the chantry that formerly stood there and in former centuries was sometimes called St Mary Holme or just Mary Holme. The remaining islands are Bee Holme (the insular status of which depends on the water level), Blake Holme, Crow Holme, Birk or Birch Holme (called Fir Holme on Ordnance Survey maps), Grass Holme, Lilies of the Valley (East, and West), Ling Holme (a rocky hump with a few trees and

1564-600: Is still predominant throughout the county, and stretches as far north as Furness in South Cumbria to parts of north Greater Manchester and Merseyside in the south of the region. The region boasts some of the most distinctive accents in the form of the Scouse accent, which originates from Liverpool and its surrounding areas, and the Manc accent, deriving from the central Manchester district. Both of these descend from

1656-499: Is that it refers to a "Continental Germanic personal noun, 'Wīnand'...Since this name could not have been current until the 12th century, the fact that the Old Norse genitive singular '-ar-' has been added to it, it would suggest that Old Norse was still a living language in the area at that time." Alternative spellings may be 'Wynhendermere' and 'Wynenderme' The second element is Old English ' mere ', meaning ' lake ' or 'pool'. It

1748-593: Is the River Leven , which drains into Morecambe Bay . The lake is in the administrative council area of Westmorland and Furness and the historic county of Westmorland , with the lake forming part of the boundary between the historic counties of Westmorland and Lancashire . It has been one of the country's most popular places for holidays and summer homes since the arrival of the Kendal and Windermere Railway 's branch line in 1847. The Freshwater Biological Association

1840-653: The 2019 United Kingdom general election , the Labour Party won a plurality of seats in the North West. It is one of the two regions (along with Yorkshire and the Humber ) that were expected to hold a referendum on the establishment of an elected regional assembly . However, when the North East region of England rejected having an elected regional assembly in a referendum, further referendums were cancelled and

1932-456: The Indices of deprivation 2007 , the region has many more Lower Layer Super Output Areas in the 20% most deprived districts than the 20% least deprived council districts. Only North East England shows more indicators of deprivation than the North West, but the number of affluent areas in the North West is very similar to Yorkshire and the Humber . The most deprived local authority areas in

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2024-538: The Industrial Revolution hundreds of thousands of Welsh people migrated to the North West of England to work in the coal mines. Parts with notably high populations with Welsh ancestry as a result of this include Liverpool , Chester , Skelmersdale , Widnes , Halewood , Wallasey , Ashton-in-Makerfield and Birkenhead . The Mixed Race population makes up 1.3% (93,800) of the region's population. There are 323,800 South Asians , making up 4.7% of

2116-669: The Scandinavian influence throughout the North West. Through the Middle Ages the dialects of the North West would have been considerably different from those spoken in the Midlands and south. It was only with the spread of literacy (particularly with the publication of the King James Bible ) that Standard English spread to the region. Even so, local dialects continued to be used and were relatively widespread until

2208-553: The Solway Coast , and almost all of the Forest of Bowland ). Weather in this part of England is typically classified as maritime, moist and temperate, with a moderate annual temperature range. Average annual precipitation in the UK typically ranges from approximately 800 mm to 1,400 mm. Temperatures are generally close to the national average. Cumbria usually experiences the most severe weather, with high precipitation in

2300-404: The electromagnet in 1825. Sydney Chapman , a mathematician from Eccles , in 1930 explained the ozone–oxygen cycle in the stratosphere , being the first to propose that atmospheric oxygen or ozone molecules absorb (harmful UVB and UVC) ultraviolet wavelengths of light in photolysis , to produce reactive single atoms which accumulate to form the ozone layer . Graphene was discovered at

2392-682: The 17th in the Inspector Lynley series. Some people believe that there may be a lake monster , similar to the one alleged to live in Loch Ness , and in 2011 anomalous photos were taken of the supposed creature; it has been affectionately nicknamed "Bownessie". In 2017, some scenes from the 2018 live action film Peter Rabbit were filmed in Windermere and Ambleside, with the Peter Rabbit heritage being strongly linked to

2484-524: The 1950s. For many years, powerboating and water-skiing have been popular activities on the lake. In March 2000, the Lake District National Park Authority controversially introduced a bylaw setting a 10- knot (12 mph; 19 km/h) speed limit for all powered craft on the lake, in addition to three existing 6-knot (7 mph; 11 km/h) speed limits for all craft on the upper, lower, and middle sections of

2576-537: The 19th and 20th centuries. In modern times, English is the most spoken language in the North West, with a large percentage of the population fluent in it, and close to 100% conversational in it. To the north-east of the region, within the historic boundaries of Cumberland , the Cumbrian dialect is dominant. The historical county of Lancashire covered a vast amount of land, and the Lancashire dialect and accent

2668-634: The Conservatives four, whilst Lancashire is competitive between Labour and Conservative (8 seats each); the Labour seats in Lancashire are concentrated in the south of the county along the M65 . For the region, the Labour gained 3 seats; there was a 5.2% swing from Conservative to Labour. In the 2015 general election, Liverpool Walton was the safest seat in the UK, with a 72% majority, and in 2017 this

2760-475: The Conservatives have 20, and the Liberal Democrats have 1. The Lib Dems' North West seat is in south Cumbria; Labour dominates Greater Manchester, and the Conservatives' vote is concentrated in affluent suburban areas such as Cheadle , Hazel Grove and Altrincham and Sale West . Labour seats also predominate in Merseyside. In Cheshire the 2015 result was reversed, with Labour winning seven seats and

2852-691: The Lake District. Manchester, Liverpool, Lancaster, Blackburn and Preston are among the region's many English place names. In the 9th to the 11th centuries, Danes from the east and Norsemen from Ireland and Scotland began settling in the area. The North West is really the only area of England where Norse settlement was significant and their influence remains in the place names and dialect of the region. Elements like fell , thwaite and tarn , which are particularly common in Cumbria, are all Norse. The numerous Kirkbys and place names with "holm" and "dale" show

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2944-502: The Lancashire dialect but have some distinctions from it, especially Scouse. The region's accents are among those referred to as ' Northern English '. Large immigrant populations in the North West result in the presence of significant immigrant languages. South Asian languages such as Urdu , Hindi and Punjabi are widespread, with the largest number of speakers residing in Preston , Blackburn and Manchester. The Chinese once made up

3036-455: The MV Swan of 1938. The fourth, MV Swift of 1900, which was converted from steam to diesel in 1956, was broken up at Lakeside in 1998. Her rudder and only one propeller are displayed at Bowness. Although often described as steamers , all are now diesel motor vessels. Tern and Swift were built with steam engines, but converted to diesel power in the 1950s. The Windermere Ferry ,

3128-485: The Martyrs , involve school holiday adventures in the 1930s around a fictional lake derived from a combination of Windermere and Coniston Water . The fictional lake resembles Windermere, but the surrounding hills and fells resemble those of Coniston Water. The BBC made a television series Swallows and Amazons in 1962; parts of this were filmed at the boathouse of Huyton Hill Preparatory School (now Pullwood House) on

3220-467: The North West are as follows: Liverpool and Manchester are sometimes considered parts of a single large polynuclear metropolitan area , or megalopolis but are usually treated as separate metropolitan areas. In some studies, part of Wigan in Greater Manchester is considered part of the Liverpool metropolitan area. The North West of England has historically been held by the Labour Party . In

3312-582: The North West from around the 7th century AD, when the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria first appears to have made inroads west of the Pennines. The language at this time would have been the Northumbrian dialect of Old English . The high percentage of English place names in the region as a whole suggests English became almost ubiquitous over the coming centuries, particularly in the area south of

3404-476: The North West's population resides in Greater Manchester, 21.39% in Lancashire, 20.30% in Merseyside, 14.76% in Cheshire and 7.41% live in the largest county by area, Cumbria. According to 2009 Office for National Statistics estimates, 91.6% (6,323,300) of people in the region describe themselves as 'White': 88.4% (6,101,100) White British , 1.0% (67,200) White Irish and 2.2% (155,000) White Other . During

3496-529: The North West). The proportion of people residing in North West England born outside the UK was 11.7% in 2021, compared with 8.2% in 2011 and 5.1% in 2001. Below are the fifteen largest overseas-born groups in the region according to the 2021 census, alongside the two previous censuses: One in five of the population in the North West is Catholic , a result of large-scale Irish emigration in

3588-695: The UK in 2019, 31.23% voted for the Brexit Party, with Labour polling 21.91%, the Liberal Democrats 17.15% and the Green Party 12.48%. The Conservatives came fifth in the region with 7.55% of votes cast. The earliest known language spoken in the North West was a dialect of the Brythonic language spoken across much of Britain from at least the Iron Age up to the arrival of English in the first millennium AD. Fragments of this early language are seen in

3680-597: The University of Manchester in 2004 under Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov . At the Calico Printers' Association in Manchester in 1941, John Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson discovered polyethylene terephthalate , known as PET, a common polyester compound found in plastic bottles and food, and also known as Terylene or Dacron. Cheslene and Crepes of Macclesfield discovered crimplene ,

3772-403: The area, who referred to it as Windermere/Winandermere Water, or (in their dialect) Windermer Watter. The name Windermere or Windermer was used of the parish that had clearly taken its name from the water. The poet Norman Nicholson comments on the use of the phrase 'Lake Windermere': "a certain excuse for the tautology can be made in the case of Windermere, since we need to differentiate between

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3864-678: The better known of the North West's physiographical features are the Lake District and the Cheshire Plain . The highest point in North West England (and the highest peak in England) is Scafell Pike , Cumbria, at a height of 3,209 ft (978 m). Windermere is the largest natural lake in England, while Broad Crag Tarn on Broad Crag is England's highest lake. Wast Water is England's deepest lake, being 74 metres deep. A mix of rural and urban landscape, two large conurbations , centred on Liverpool and Manchester , occupy much of

3956-575: The circuit began on 9 April with the Bio-Strath Tally Ho event, and ended on 7 August with the thirteenth and final leg the Bio-Strath West Warwickshire Open at Solihull . North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of Cheshire , Cumbria , Greater Manchester , Lancashire and Merseyside . The North West had

4048-584: The club (based at Derwent water) and has taken the name Windermere Rowing Club. The club is small in comparison to the more established clubs in the country but is continually growing with the number of both members and boats constantly increasing. The Ferry House Regatta was the subject of a painting by Thomas Allom and in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837 this was illustrated in the poem [REDACTED] Regatta.—Windermere Lake . by Letitia Elizabeth Landon . On Friday 13 June 1930, Sir Henry Segrave broke

4140-567: The district of South Lakeland in the non-metropolitan county of Cumbria . Since April 2023, Cumbria no longer exists for administrative purposes and the lake falls entirely within Westmorland and Furness administrative area. Most planning matters concerned with the lake are, however, the responsibility of the Lake District National Park Authority. Passenger services operate along the whole length of

4232-589: The dominant party in the region by seat count, with the Conservatives total now standing at 27. The Conservatives made two gains in Cheshire, three gains in Lancashire, five gains in Greater Manchester, notably including Andy Burnham 's former seat of Leigh. In the 2017 general election , the area was dominated by the Labour Party. Fifty-five per cent of the region's electorate voted Labour, 36.3% Conservative, 5.4% Liberal Democrat, 1.9% UKIP and 1.1% Greens; however, by number of parliamentary seats, Labour have 54,

4324-597: The existence of the atomic nucleus . Sir J. J. Thomson of Cheetham Hill discovered the electron (given its name in 1891 by George Johnstone Stoney ) in April 1897 and received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1906; his son George Paget Thomson would win the Nobel Prize for Physics 1937 for discovering electron diffraction (at the University of Aberdeen). John Dalton , from Cumbria and moved to Manchester, developed atomic theory . William Sturgeon of Lancashire invented

4416-663: The fabric that is now referred to as polyester. ICI Dyestuffs at Hexagon House , in Blackley in north Manchester, discovered Procion dyes. At the Winnington Laboratory on 27 March 1933, Eric Fawcett and Reginald Gibson discovered polythene in an ICI laboratory in Northwich, when reacting benzaldehyde with ethene at a pressure of 2,000 atmospheres ; the process was improved in 1935 by Michael Perrin . Windermere Windermere or Lake Windermere

4508-729: The first week of August. In 1971 the circuit was extended to include two new North West England tournaments at Lytham St Annes , and The Bio-Strath Northern at Manchester, one new tournament in South Yorkshire the Bio-Strath Sheffield Tournament at Sheffield , another new event Another new tournament was added for London the Bio-Strath Cumberland Hard Courts, In South Wales the Bio-Strath Cardiff tournament

4600-572: The former Furness Railway , who built the Lakeside branch, and were at one time operated by British Rail , the former state-owned rail operator. Since privatisation, three of the original large railway boats are operated by Windermere Lake Cruises Ltd , along with a fleet of smaller and more modern launches. Three of the original four boats survive: the MV Tern of 1891, the MV Teal of 1936, and

4692-425: The geology. This consists of hard volcanic rocks in the north basin and softer shales in the south. The lake is drained from its southernmost point by the River Leven . It is replenished by the rivers Brathay , Rothay , Trout Beck , Cunsey Beck and several other lesser streams. The lake is largely surrounded by foothills of the Lake District which provide pleasant low-level walks; to the north and northeast are

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4784-549: The help of Leonard G. Montefiore . This refugee rescue was dramatised as The Windermere Children broadcast on the BBC in 2020 for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Legends of female centaurs in Windermere served as the basis for Archie Fisher's 1976 song The Witch of the West-Mer-Lands , which was later covered by Stan Rogers . Fisher cites "tales of antlered women with bodies of deer seen wading in

4876-527: The higher fells of central Lakeland. There is debate as to whether the stretch of water between Newby Bridge and Lakeside at the southern end of the lake should be considered part of Windermere, or a navigable stretch of the River Leven. This affects the stated length of the lake, which is 11.23 miles (18.07 km) long if measured from the bridge at Newby Bridge, or 10.5 miles (16.9 km) if measured from Lakeside . The lake varies in width up to

4968-695: The history of racing boats. The museum was closed in 2006 for refurbishment and re-opened, considerably enlarged, in March, 2019 as the Windermere Jetty: Museum of Boats, Steam and Stories . The long popularity of steam launches on Windermere has even given its name to the Windermere kettle , a steam-powered tea urn. In 2005, the Windermere Management Strategy identified the potential for water bus services on

5060-510: The inaugural Great North Swim , a one-mile (1.6 km) open water swim involving 2,200 swimmers. The second annual swim took place on 12 and 13 September 2009, with 6,000 swimmers, making this the largest open water swim in the UK. The 40-mile (64 km) Three Lakes Challenge (or Loch, Lake, Llyn) is a challenge first completed by a 5-person relay with Sam Plum, Jason Betley, Helen Gibbs, Helen Liddle, and Debbie Taylor on 3–4 July 2015 under English Channel rules. The course involves swimming

5152-446: The inscriptions and place names of the Roman era. In some parts of the region, the Brythonic dialect developed into the medieval language known today as Cumbric , which continued to be spoken perhaps as late as the 12th century in the north of Cumbria. This early Celtic heritage remains today in place names such as Carlisle , Penrith and Eccles , and many river names such as Cocker , Kent and Eden . English may have been spoken in

5244-404: The lake and the centre of Ambleside is one mile (1.6 km) to the north of Waterhead. The village of Windermere is about 20 minutes' walk from Millerground, the nearest point on the lakeshore. It did not exist before the arrival of the railway in 1847. The station was built in an area of open fell and farmland in the township of Applethwaite. The nearest farm was Birthwaite, which gave its name to

5336-442: The lake and the town, though it would be better to speak of 'Windermere Lake' and Windermere Town', but no one can excuse such ridiculous clumsiness as 'Lake Derwentwater ' and 'Lake Ullswater ." The extensive parish included most of Undermilbeck (that is, excepting Winster and the part of Crook chapelry that lay west of the Gilpin, which were part of Kirkby Kendal parish), Applethwaite, Troutbeck and Ambleside-below-Stock, that is,

5428-405: The lake for 246 days in 2022. In 2024, United Utilities was fighting in court to keep secret its data on the treated sewage it discharges into Windermere, claiming first that it “was not environmental information” and then that it was “internal communication” and therefore not subject to disclosure. William Wordsworth , one of the Lake Poets , described the view of Windermere from the crest of

5520-490: The lake lay wholly within the county of Westmorland ; however, the historic county boundary between Lancashire and Westmorland runs down the western shore of the lake and also along about three miles (5 km) of the southern section of the eastern shore. Anyone crossing the lake from east to west on the Windermere Ferry thus travels from the historic county of Westmorland to that of Lancashire. Local government reorganisation in 1974 placed Windermere and its shores within

5612-413: The lake, from Lakeside railway station , on the Lakeside and Haverthwaite heritage steam railway at the southern end of the lake, to Waterhead Bay near Ambleside in the north. Intermediate stops are made at Bowness and, by smaller launches only, at Brockhole. Some boats only operate part of the route, or operate out and back cruises, whilst others run the whole distance. These services date back to

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5704-459: The lake. In July 2022, the Love Windermere partnership was created to tackle challenges in the lake. Nutrients, climate change, more extreme weather patterns and the seasonal variations of the tourist population are all predicted to put the lake and its water quality under increasing pressure in the coming years. In 2023, it was reported that data from the Environment Agency showed that United Utilities released sewage from storm overflows into

5796-493: The lake. A 26 year old Windermere resident, Zoology Undergraduate Matthew Staniek, made national news by suggesting the lake could become "ecologically dead", with the growth of blue-green algae , and microscopic organisms being incorrectly described as "toxic as cobra venom". However, beyond the resident's speculation, there was little evidence of this being true, with ecologists and subsequent studies showing pollution levels better than suggested, and localized to smaller areas of

5888-401: The lake. In 2009, the Lake District National Park Authority commissioned a detailed study into the demand for such services. In July 2009, it was announced that Windermere Lake Cruises would be operating additional stops around the lake. In January 2012, the Park Authority launched a consultation on further expansion of the water bus service. On Saturday 13 September 2008, Windermere hosted

5980-576: The lake. The bylaw came into force in 2000, but there was a five-year transition period and the new speed limits were only enforced from 29 March 2005. The bylaws on the lake were reviewed and renewed in 2008. Despite the speed limits people continue to use powerboats on the lake, both legally and illegally. Windermere Steamboat Museum is located on Rayrigg Road in Bowness, and included a collection of vintage steam boats dating back to 1850, five sailing boats (the oldest built in 1780), two dugout canoes, as well as information about Swallows and Amazons and

6072-404: The lake: the South Windermere Sailing Club, Windermere Motor Boat Racing Club , the Lake District Boat Club , the Royal Windermere Yacht Club , and the Windermere Cruising Association . The Royal Windermere Yacht Club maintains a set of turning marks on the lake, which are also used by the Windermere Cruising Association. The Lake District Boat Club is a family orientated club open to all (owning

6164-401: The large house, though, Belle Isle plays host to a folly which is used by the Water Witches in the area. In November 2009, several scenes were shot on Windermere for the ITV soap opera Coronation Street , featuring the newlyweds Gail and Joe on their honeymoon. Windermere and the surrounding countryside is the setting for mystery novelist Elizabeth George 's 2012 book Believing the Lie ,

6256-426: The largest minority in the region (as Liverpool has one of the oldest Chinese settlements in Europe), and still do to the far north where Chinese is spoken by small but significant communities. Since the enlargement of the EU, over one million Poles have immigrated to the UK, a large number of them settling in the North West. Places such as Crewe as well as larger cities make Polish written information available for

6348-657: The length of Loch Awe in Scotland (25 miles; 40 km), then driving to the Lake District and swimming the length of Windermere ( 10 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles; 17 km), and finally driving to Wales and swimming the length of Bala Lake (4 miles; 6 km). This challenge is intended as the swimming equivalent of the National Three Peaks Challenge . In 2021, it was reported that the sewage-treatment plant in Ambleside legally discharged sewage into Windermere for 1,719 hours during 2020 (equivalent to 71 out of 365 days), and that private septic tanks from residential dwellings, holiday homes and caravan sites also released sewage into

6440-466: The local minority populations. In the Eurostat Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), North West is a level-1 NUTS region, coded "UKD", which (since 2015) is subdivided as follows: Population > 400,000 Population > 100,000 Population > 70,000 Population > 50,000 Population > 30,000 Population > 20,000 Population > 10,000 Population > 5,000 The five largest metropolitan areas in

6532-406: The mountainous regions of the Lake District and Pennines. In winter, the most severe weather occurs in the more exposed and elevated areas of the North West, once again mainly the Lake District and Pennine areas. Source: Office for National Statistics Mid Year Population Estimates in 2008 North West England's population accounts for just over 13% of England's overall population. 37.86% of

6624-413: The nineteenth century as well as the high number of English recusants in Lancashire . Of the nine regions of England, the North West has the fourth-highest GVA per capita —the highest outside southern England. Despite this the region has above average multiple deprivation with wealth heavily concentrated on very affluent areas like rural Cheshire, rural Lancashire, and south Cumbria. As measured by

6716-545: The northwestern shore. Hollywood film comedian Stan Laurel was a frequent visitor to the lake at Windermere as a child. Born in Ulverston in 1890, his grandmother, uncle and aunt would take him and his cousins on excursions by train into the Lake District , visiting Flookburgh , Sawrey and Windermere. The lake gave its name to a group of 300 Jewish boys, the "Windermere Boys", who survived Auschwitz and settled at Troutbeck Bridge near Windermere in 1945, thanks to

6808-633: The part of Ambleside that lay south of Stock Beck . The parish church was at Bowness in Undermilbeck. Windermere is long and narrow, like many other ribbon lakes , and lies in a steep-sided pre-glacial river valley that has become deepened by successive glaciations. The current lake was formed after the Last Glacial Maximum during the retreat of the British and Irish Ice Sheet some time between 17,000 and 14,700 years ago, just before

6900-486: The population, and 1.1% Black (80,600). 0.6% of the population (39,900) are Chinese and 0.5% (36,500) of people belong to another ethnic group. North West England is a very diverse region, with Manchester and Liverpool amongst the most diverse cities in Europe. 19.4% of Blackburn with Darwen 's population are Muslim, the third-highest among all local authorities in the United Kingdom and the highest outside London. Areas such as Moss Side in Greater Manchester are home to

6992-602: The proposals for elected regional assemblies in England put on hold. The regional leaders' forum, 4NW is based on Waterside Drive in Wigan . The former North West England European Parliament constituency had the same boundaries as the Region. Ten English regions were established by the government in 1994. At that time, Merseyside , which already had its own Government Office, formerly the Merseyside Task Force,

7084-638: The public, to much controversy. Other immigrant languages with a presence in the North West are Spanish, mainly amongst the Latin American communities in Liverpool and Manchester , as well as various other Eastern European and Asian languages. The most taught languages in schools across the North West are English, French and Spanish. German and Italian are available at more senior levels and, in cities such as Manchester and Liverpool, even Urdu and Mandarin are being taught to help maintain links between

7176-416: The region (based on specific wards within those borough areas) are, in descending order—Liverpool, Manchester, Knowsley, Blackpool, Salford, Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Rochdale, Barrow-in-Furness, Halton, Hyndburn, Oldham, Pendle, St Helens, Preston, Bolton, Tameside, Wirral, Wigan, Copeland, Sefton, and Rossendale. In 2007 when Cheshire still had district councils, the least deprived council districts in

7268-399: The region by council district, in descending order, were—Congleton, Ribble Valley, Macclesfield, and South Lakeland. These areas have Conservative MPs, except South Lakeland has a Lib Dem and Labour MPs. At county level, before it was split into two, Cheshire was the least deprived, followed by Trafford, and by Warrington and Stockport. In March 2011, the overall unemployment claimant count

7360-497: The shallows of the lakes in the moonlight" as the inspiration for his song. "Apparently deer used to swim across the shallow end of Lake Windermere and weeds got caught in their antlers and observers, probably wandering home from a local hostelry, took them to be these mythical creatures." Windermere is a location used in the 1994 fighting game Tekken . Belle Isle features in the fifth book of Joseph Delaney 's Spook's series, The Spooks Mistake ; published in 2008. Rather than

7452-629: The south of the region. The north of the region, comprising Cumbria and northern Lancashire, is largely rural, as is the far south which encompasses parts of the Cheshire Plain and Peak District. The region includes parts of three National parks (all of the Lake District , and small parts of the Peak District and the Yorkshire Dales ) and three areas of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (all of Arnside and Silverdale and

7544-554: The start of the Windermere Interstadial . The lake water was sourced from the meltwater of retreating ice in the catchment, which receded up the Troutbeck valley and up the valleys that now contain the rivers Rothay and Brathay . There were at least nine ice retreat phases, indicated by buried recessional moraines. The lake has two separate basins – north and south – with different characteristics influenced by

7636-484: The station and the village that began to grow up near it. In about 1859, the residents began to call their new village by the name of Windermere, much to the chagrin of the people of Bowness, which had been the centre of the parish of Windermere for many centuries. Since 1907 the two places have been under one council and, although there are still two separate centres, the area between is largely built up, albeit bordering on woodland and open fields. Windermere railway station

7728-544: The world water speed record on Windermere in his boat, Miss England II at an average speed of 158.94 km/h (98.76 mph). On the third run over the course, off Belle Grange, the boat capsized. Segrave's mechanic, Victor Helliwell drowned, but Segrave was rescued by support boats. He died a short time later of his injuries. Segrave was one of the few people in history who have held the world land speed record and water speed record simultaneously. Racer Norman Buckley set several world water speed records on Windermere in

7820-556: Was 4.2% for the region. Inside the region the highest was Liverpool with 6.8%, followed by Knowsley on 6.3%, Halton with 5.5% and Rochdale with 5.1%. The lowest claimant count is in Eden (Cumbria) and Ribble Valley (Lancashire) each with 1.3%, followed by South Lakeland with 1.4%. In the 2019 general election , the Conservatives gained ten seats, from the Labour Party, with no other seats changing hands. Labour held 42 of their 52 seats, albeit many with slimmed down majorities. They remain

7912-672: Was added to the circuit, and another new event for North East England , the Bio-Strath Sunderland and Durham tournament The same year the Edgbaston tournament in the West Midlands was withdrawn, and replaced by the Bio-Strath Stourbridge tournament. In October 1971 Bio-Strath AG decided not to renew its sponsorship agreement with tournaments, due to disagreements of prize money and the circuit

8004-464: Was discontinued. The Bio-Strath Circuit was part of the 1970 British Tournament Season. It began on 4 May in Birmingham , West Midlands , England with the first leg being the Bio-Strath Tally Ho event, and ended on 8 August with the tenth and final being the Bio-Strath West Warwickshire Open at Solihull . The Bio-Strath Circuit was part of the 1971 British Tournament Season. The first leg of

8096-516: Was established on the shore of Windermere in 1929 and much of the early work on lake ecology , freshwater biology and limnology was conducted here. The word 'Windermere' is thought to translate as "'Winand or Vinand's lake'... The specific has usually been identified with an Old Swedish personal name 'Vinandr', genitive singular 'Vinandar'"... although "the personal noun is of very restricted distribution even in Sweden." Another possibility

8188-420: Was known as "Winander Mere" or "Winandermere" until at least the 19th century. Its name suggests it is a mere , a lake that is broad in relation to its depth, but despite the name this is not the case for Windermere, which in particular has a noticeable thermocline , distinguishing it from typical meres. Until the 19th century, the term "lake" was, indeed, not much used by or known to the native inhabitants of

8280-607: Was regarded as a separate region. In 1998, Merseyside was merged into the North West region. This action was controversial in some quarters. Regional Government Offices were abolished in April 2011 by the Coalition Government. Sir Ernest Marsden (of Blackburn) and Hans Geiger conducted the Geiger–Marsden experiment at the University of Manchester in 1909, where the Geiger counter was invented, which demonstrated

8372-454: Was repeated with a 77% majority for Dan Carden (Labour), when an astonishing 85.7% of the electorate voted for him (the Conservatives came second with 8.6%). In the by-election of 2012 , Manchester Central has the record for the lowest turnout in the UK—18%. Gwyneth Dunwoody , for Crewe and Nantwich, was the longest serving female MP until her death in 2008. In the final European Elections in

8464-459: Was the home for a while in 1830 of the poet Felicia Hemans and her family. This is recorded in the text to Lydia Sigourney 's poem Lake Winandermere Oscar Wilde began working on his first hit play, Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), during a summer visit to the Lake District in 1891. A series of children's books by Arthur Ransome , Swallows and Amazons and its sequels Swallowdale , Winter Holiday , Pigeon Post and The Picts and

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