127-822: The Lake District , also known as the Lakes or Lakeland , is a mountainous region and national park in Cumbria , North West England . It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and the Cumbrian mountains , and for its literary associations with Beatrix Potter , John Ruskin , and the Lake Poets . The Cumbrian mountains, or fells , include England's highest : Scafell Pike (978 m; 3,209 ft), Helvellyn (950 m; 3,120 ft) and Skiddaw (931 m; 3,054 ft). The region also contains sixteen major lakes. They include Windermere , which with
254-755: A 19-band charity music festival. It was staged at the Ernest Valentine Ground home of Workington Cricket Club. Artists included The Chairmen, Novellos, With Lights Out, Volcanoes, Breed, Colt 45, Relics, Telf, Thir13een, Slagbank, Hangin' Threads and Hand of Fate. Profits went to the RNLI and West Cumberland Lions . In 2008, the Paint Your Town Red Festival invited Liverpool comic and actor Ricky Tomlinson . Described as 'The biggest free festival in Workington's history',
381-675: A 1945 white paper on national parks was produced as part of the Labour Party's planned post-war reconstruction, leading in 1949 to the passing of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act . In England and Wales, as in Scotland, designation as a national park means that the area has been identified as being of importance to the national heritage and as such is worthy of special protection and attention. Unlike
508-759: A box of trunk routes and major A roads. It is flanked to the east by the A6 road , which runs from Kendal to Penrith (though the National Park extension approved in 2015 is east of the A6); across its southern fringes by the A590 , which connects the M6 to Barrow-in-Furness, and the A5092 , and across its northern edge by the A66 trunk road between Penrith and Workington . The A595 (linking
635-436: A further 200 days with some rain, and 145 completely dry days. Hill fog is common at any time of year, and the fells average only around 2.5 hours of sunshine per day, increasing to around 4.1 hours per day on the coastal plains. The Lake District is home to a great variety of wildlife, because of its varied topography, lakes, and forests. It provides a home for the red squirrel and colonies of sundew and butterwort , two of
762-513: A length of 11 miles (18 km) and an area of 5.69 square miles (14.73 km) is the longest and largest lake in England, and Wast Water , which at 79 metres (259 ft) is the deepest lake in England. The Lake District National Park was established in 1951, and covers an area of 2,362 km (912 square miles), the bulk of the region. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017. The Lake District National Park includes all of
889-462: A national park in the 1970s but the proposal was thought to be administratively too difficult because the area was administered by five different county councils . The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads was designated through its own Act of Parliament in 1988 , gaining status equivalent to that of a national park. The Broads in East Anglia are not in the strictest sense a national park, being run by
1016-447: A number of problems. The national funding offered to national park authorities is partly in recognition of the extra difficulties created in dealing with these conflicts. The United Kingdom has a number of other designated landscape areas besides its national parks. Most similar to the parks are Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty which differ in part because of their more limited opportunities for extensive outdoor recreation. Dartmoor,
1143-418: A separately constituted Broads Authority set up by a special Act of Parliament in 1988 and with a structure in which conservation is subordinate to navigational concerns (see Sandford Principle below), but it is generally regarded as being "equivalent to" a national park. Separate legislation was passed in Scotland, namely the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 , and from this two Scottish national parks,
1270-429: A system of permits operates on Gatescarth Pass . Most of the land within the national park is in private ownership, with about 55% registered as agricultural land. Landowners include: The Lake District is a roughly circular upland massif , deeply dissected by a broadly radial pattern of major valleys which are largely the result of repeated glaciations over the last 2 million years. The apparent radial pattern
1397-412: A temporary means of crossing the river after road bridges had been closed by flooding. A free train service between Workington (Main) and Maryport was funded by the government. The Workington Transport Heritage Trust, preserves the transport heritage of Workington and the surrounding area and is run by volunteers. Workington was the headquarters of the haulage company J. Roper (Workington) Ltd, which
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#17327976540251524-401: A traditional version of football with medieval origins in mob football or an even earlier form. Since 2001, matches have raised over £75,000 for local charities. An Uppies and Downies ball is made from four pieces of cow leather. It is 21 inches (53 cm) in circumference and weighs about two and a half pounds (1.1 kg). Only three hand-made balls are produced every year and each
1651-545: A £50 million shopping centre and mixed-use complex, was opened to replace the run-down St John's Arcade, built in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2007, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors named Washington Square the "best commercial project" in North West England . Works of public art installed in the town centre include: While efforts have been made to find local names for the major streets of
1778-433: Is England's deepest lake. The Central Fells are lower in elevation than surrounding areas of fell, peaking at 762 m (2,500 ft) at High Raise . They take the form of a ridge running between Derwent Water in the west and Thirlmere in the east, from Keswick in the north to Langdale Pikes in the south. A spur extends southeast to Loughrigg Fell above Ambleside. The central ridge running north over High Seat
1905-705: Is Neil Schofield. Workington lies astride the River Derwent , on the West Cumbrian coastal plain. It is bounded to the west by the Solway Firth , part of the Irish Sea , and to the east by the Lake District . The town has various districts, many of them established as housing estates . North of the river these include Seaton , Barepot , Northside, Port and Oldside. On the south side are
2032-403: Is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in Cumbria , England. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. The town is 32 miles (51 kilometres) south-west of Carlisle , 8 miles (13 km) north-east of Whitehaven , 7 miles (11 km) west of Cockermouth , and 5 miles (8 km) south-west of Maryport . The area around Workington
2159-477: Is administered by Cumberland . It was formerly covered by the Seaton + Northside, St Michaels, Moorclose + Moss Bay, Harrington + Salterbeck, and St Johns wards on Allerdale Borough Council . The divisions for Cumbria County Council were Seaton, St Michaels, St Johns + Great Clifton, Moorclose + Moss Bay, and Harrington. Workington has a parish council : Workington Town Council. The current mayor (2024–2025)
2286-519: Is called by that name, Bassenthwaite Lake . All the others such as Windermere , Coniston Water , Ullswater and Buttermere are meres, tarns and waters, with mere being the least common and water being the most common. The major lakes and reservoirs in the National Park are given below. Below the tree line are wooded areas, including British and European native oak woodlands and introduced softwood plantations. The woodlands provide habitats for native English wildlife. The native red squirrel
2413-744: Is currently closed after its last use as a bingo hall. The "Opera Action" group plans to restore it as a working theatre. The town once had four cinemas (the Carnegie, the Hippodrome, the Oxford and the Ritz), all now closed. There remains only the Parkway Cinema at Dunmail Park . During the 1950s, films were also shown at the Opera House. On 19 September 2009, Valentine Rock took place;
2540-528: Is exceptionally boggy. The Eastern Fells consist of a long north-to-south ridge , the Helvellyn range , running from Clough Head to Seat Sandal with the 950 m (3,118 ft) Helvellyn at its highest point. The western slopes of these summits tend to be grassy, with rocky corries and crags on the eastern side. The Fairfield group lies to the south of the range and forms a similar pattern with towering rock faces and hidden valleys spilling into
2667-531: Is found in the Lake District and a few other parts of England. In parts of the Lake District, the rainfall is higher than in any other part of England. This gives Atlantic mosses , ferns , lichen , and liverworts the chance to grow. There is some ancient woodland in the National Park. Management of the woodlands varies: some are coppiced , some pollarded , some left to grow naturally, and some provide grazing and shelter. The Lake District extends to
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#17327976540252794-401: Is merit in variety and with the wide diversity of landscape which is available in England and Wales, it would be wrong to confine the selection of National Parks to the more rugged areas of mountain and moorland, and to exclude other districts which, though of less outstanding grandeur and wildness, have their own distinctive beauty and a high recreational value. The National Parks and Access to
2921-678: Is no national park in the southern Midlands . The Cairngorms National Park , at 4,528 km (1,748 sq mi), is the largest of the national parks. Outside the Scottish Highlands the largest is the Lake District National Park , which, at 2,292 square kilometres (885 sq mi), is the largest National Park in England and the second largest in the United Kingdom. Snowdonia National Park , at 2,142 square kilometres (827 sq mi),
3048-576: Is not from a central dome, but from an axial watershed extending from St Bees Head in the west to Shap in the east. Most of these valleys display the U-shaped cross-section characteristic of glacial origin and often contain long narrow lakes in bedrock hollows, with tracts of relatively flat ground at their infilled heads, or where they are divided by lateral tributaries (Buttermere-Crummock Water; Derwent Water-Bassenthwaite Lake). Smaller lakes known as tarns occupy glacial cirques at higher elevations. It
3175-511: Is now covered by Clay Flatts Industrial Estate . The Cumbria iron-ore field lies to the south of Workington, and produced extremely high grade phosphorus -free haematite . The area had a long tradition of iron smelting , but this became particularly important with the invention by Sir Henry Bessemer of the Bessemer process , the first process for mass production of mild steel , which previously had been an expensive specialist product. For
3302-545: Is now the Scottish border during the Caledonian orogeny . The northern central peaks, such as Great Rigg, were produced by considerable lava flows. These lava eruptions were followed by a series of pyroclastic eruptions which produced a series of calderas, one of which includes present-day Scafell Pike. These pyroclastic rocks give rise to the craggy landscapes typical of the central fells. The southeastern band comprises
3429-511: Is restricted to public rights of way and permissive paths . (Under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 there is a right of access for walkers to most but not all uncultivated areas in England and Wales.) National parks are a devolved matter, so each of the countries of the United Kingdom has its own policies and arrangements for them. The national parks of Scotland and those of England and Wales are governed by separate laws:
3556-462: Is seen to suggest there was a settlement at the river mouth. The place-name Workington is first attested in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 946, as Wurcingtun . It appears as Wirchingetona in about 1150, meaning "the town or settlement of Weorc or Wirc's people". Several bridges were damaged or destroyed by the River Derwent during the 2009 Workington floods . In 2006, Washington Square,
3683-510: Is the abundance of both which has led to the area becoming known as the Lake District. Many of the higher fells are rocky, while moorland predominates lower down. Vegetation cover in better-drained areas includes bracken and heather , although much of the land is boggy , due to the high rainfall. Deciduous native woodland occurs on many of the steeper slopes below the tree line , but with native oak supplemented by extensive conifer plantations in many areas, particularly Grizedale Forest in
3810-484: Is the largest national park in Wales and the fourth largest in the United Kingdom. The smallest national park in England and Wales, and in the United Kingdom, is The Broads , at 303 square kilometres (117 sq mi). The total area of the national parks in England and Wales is about 16,267 square kilometres (6,281 sq mi), for an average of 1,251 square kilometres but a median of 1,344 square kilometres. In
3937-411: Is to be preserved. The national park authorities also have a duty to foster the economic and social wellbeing of communities in pursuit of these purposes. Funding for national parks is complex, but the full cost of each park authority is funded from central government funds. In the past this was partly paid for by local authorities and refunded to them from the government to varying degrees. In 2003/2004
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4064-543: The 2019 general election , the concept of the " Workington man " was devised by a think tank as a key election target. In November 2019, Nigel Farage visited Workington to campaign on behalf of the Brexit Party . The town is part of the parliamentary constituency of Whitehaven and Workington . In the 2024 general election , the Labour Party candidate for Whitehaven and Workington, Josh MacAlister ,
4191-623: The A66 road to Penrith and continues to Scotch Corner in County Durham. The town has its own bus station and bus services to other towns and villages in Cumbria , such as Cockermouth , Keswick , Penrith , Carlisle , Wigton , Maryport , Whitehaven , Frizington , Egremont and Thornhill . The Cumbrian Coast line provides rail connections from Workington railway station to Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness , with occasional through trains to Lancaster and Preston . Workington North railway station opened on 30 November 2009 as
4318-612: The B5343 . Other valleys such as Little Langdale , Eskdale and Dunnerdale are served by minor roads. The last of these is connected with the first two by the Wrynose and Hardknott passes respectively; both of these passes are known for their steep gradients and are together one of the most popular climbs in the United Kingdom for cycling enthusiasts. A minor road through the Newlands Valley connects via Newlands Hause with
4445-657: The Cairngorms and Loch Lomond and The Trossachs , were created. The New Forest , which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and old-growth forest in the heavily populated south east of England, was designated as a national park on 1 March 2005. On 31 March 2009 it was announced that the South Downs would be designated a national park; the South Downs National Park came into effect on 31 March 2010. Of
4572-539: The Caldbeck and local relay transmitters. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Cumbria on 95.6 FM, Greatest Hits Radio Cumbria & South West Scotland on 102.2 FM and Workington Academy Radio, a student based radio station that broadcast to the Workington Academy . The town is served by the local newspaper, Times & Star. Workington is home to the ball game known as Uppies and Downies ,
4699-640: The Environment Act 1995 , each English and Welsh national park has been managed by its own national park authority, a special-purpose local authority , since April 1997. Previously, all but the Peak District and the Lake District were governed by county councils . The Peak District and the Lake District , the first two national parks to be designated, were under the control of planning boards that were independent of county councils. Similar national park authorities have also been established for
4826-569: The Furness Fells or Coniston Fells, have as their northern boundary the steep and narrow Hardknott and Wrynose passes. The highest are Old Man of Coniston and Swirl How which slightly exceed 800 m (2,600 ft). The third group to the west of the Duddon includes Harter Fell and the long ridge leading over Whitfell to Black Combe and the sea. The south of this region consists of lower forests and knolls, with Kirkby Moor on
4953-641: The Kirkstone Pass . Some valleys which are not penetrated by A roads are served by B roads . The B5289 serves Lorton Vale and Buttermere and links via the Honister Pass with Borrowdale . The B5292 ascends the Whinlatter Pass from Lorton Vale before dropping down to Braithwaite near Keswick. The B5322 serves the valley of St John's in the Vale whilst Great Langdale is served by
5080-581: The Leven Estuary , and the western banks and tidal flats of the Kent Estuary . These areas are each characterised by sand and mudflats of scenic and wildlife interest. The coast is backed by extensive flats of raised marine deposits left when the relative sea level was higher. The Lake District's geology is very complex but well-studied. A granite batholith beneath the area is responsible for this upland massif, its relatively low density causing
5207-672: The Lune Valley . The national park received 18.14 million tourist visitors in 2022. This equates to 29.15 million tourist days, counting visits of greater than three hours. It is the largest of the thirteen national parks in England and Wales and the second largest in the UK after the Cairngorms National Park . Its aim is to protect the landscape by restricting unwelcome change by industry or commerce. The area of
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5334-518: The Mourne Mountains . If established, it would stretch from Carlingford Lough to Newcastle and Slieve Croob . National park authorities are the strategic and local planning authorities for their areas, so that the local district or unitary councils do not exercise planning control in an area covered by a national park. Consequently, they have to perform all the duties of a local planning authority . They are responsible for maintaining
5461-454: The National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 in Scotland and the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 for England and Wales. The Environment Act 1995 defines the role of national parks in England and Wales as being: The Broads differs from the twelve national parks in England & Wales in having a third purpose that carries equal weight, that of: The Scottish national parks have two further statutory purposes: Following
5588-545: The National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 , and in England and Wales any new national park is designated under this Act, and must be confirmed by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs . The 1949 Act came about after a prolonged campaign for public access to the countryside in the United Kingdom with its roots in the Industrial Revolution. The first 'freedom to roam' bill
5715-603: The National Trust . In cases where there may be conflict between the two purposes of designation, the first (to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the National Park) must take precedence under the Sandford Principle . This principle was given statutory force by section 62 of the Environment Act 1995 , although there are no explicit provisions as to how wildlife
5842-598: The Patterdale valley. It culminates in the height of Red Screes overlooking the Kirkstone Pass . The Far Eastern Fells refers to all of the Lakeland fells to the east of Ullswater and the A592 road running south to Windermere. At 828 m (2,717 ft), the peak known as High Street is the highest point on a complex ridge that runs broadly north-south and overlooks the hidden valley of Haweswater to its east. In
5969-430: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs . The precise extent of the Lake District is undefined, but it is sometimes considered to be slightly larger than that of the National Park, whose total area is about 2,362 square kilometres (912 sq mi). The park extends just over 51 kilometres (32 mi) from east to west and nearly 64 kilometres (40 mi) from north to south, with areas such as
6096-623: The Skiddaw Group and include the rocks traditionally known as the Skiddaw Slates . Their friability generally leads to mountains with relatively smooth slopes such as Skiddaw itself. The central band is a mix of volcanic and sedimentary rocks of mid-to-late Ordovician age comprising the lavas and tuffs of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group , erupted as the former Iapetus Ocean was subducted beneath what
6223-590: The cities was also considered important. The Peak District , site of the Kinder Scout trespass, was designated the first national park in April 1951 under the Clement Attlee led Labour administration . This was followed in the same year by the designations of three more national parks; the Lake District, Snowdonia and Dartmoor. By the end of the decade the national park family had increased to ten with
6350-519: The local development framework — the spatial planning guide for their area. They also grant planning consent for development, within the constraints of the Framework. This gives them very strong direct control over residential and industrial development, and the design of buildings and other structures; as well as strategic matters such as mineral extraction. The national park authorities' planning powers vary only slightly from other authorities, but
6477-526: The "Cumbrian Mountains", "Cumbrian Fells" or "Lakeland Fells". The four highest fells exceed 3,000 feet (914 m). These are: The Northern Fells are a clearly defined range of hills contained within a 13 km (8 mi) diameter circle between Keswick in the southwest and Caldbeck in the northeast. They culminate in the 931 m (3,054 ft) peak of Skiddaw . Other notable peaks are Blencathra (also known as Saddleback) (868 m (2,848 ft)) and Carrock Fell . Bassenthwaite Lake occupies
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#17327976540256604-583: The 1970s and 1980s. Produced primarily for the state-owned National Bus Company , the Leyland National was styled by Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti , and included a roof-mounted heating unit in a pod at the rear of the bus. The Lillyhall factory later built the Leyland Titan , Leyland Olympian and Leyland Lynx buses. In the 1980s, Leyland manufactured Pacer railbus and Sprinter -type commuter trains at Workington. The bodyshells of
6731-547: The 2008 festival included a free children's fun fair in Vulcan Park and stage and street entertainment. Attractions included "Jimmy James and his Soul Explosion", "Dearham Band" and the all-female band "Irresistible". Keswick's "Cars of the Stars" museum provided a stunt driving display. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North East and Cumbria and ITV Border . Television signals are received from
6858-683: The A66 with the A5092) forms the park boundary from Calder Bridge to Holmrook, then crosses the coastal plain of the park until turning inland at the Whicham Valley, forming much of the park boundary again until joining the A5092 at Grizebeck. Besides these, a few A roads penetrate the area itself, notably the A591 which runs north-westwards from Kendal to Windermere and then on to Keswick. It continues up
6985-587: The B5289 at Buttermere. Wasdale is served by a cul-de-sac minor road, as is Longsleddale and the valleys at Haweswater and Kentmere . There are networks of minor roads in the lower-lying southern part of the area, connecting numerous communities between Kendal, Windermere, and Coniston. The West Coast Main Line skirts the eastern edge of the Lake District and the Cumbrian Coast Line passes through
7112-402: The British beef and dairy industry after the BSE crisis in Britain. It is based in the former steelworks offices. Many Workington residents are employed outside the town in the nuclear industry located in and around Sellafield , West Cumbria's dominant employment sector. British Leyland opened a factory in Lillyhall, just outside Workington, initially to build the Leyland National bus in
7239-412: The Cloffocks provoked controversy and opposition from local people; a planning application was placed in 2006 by Tesco, after it acquired the Cloffocks site for £18 million; Tesco had been competing with Asda for the site since 2003. Campaigners opposed the sale, stating that the land was common ground and belonged to the people of Workington. In 2010 the Countess of Lonsdale invoked her rights to mine
7366-435: The Countryside Act 1949 was passed with all party support. The first ten national parks were designated as such in the 1950s under the Act in mostly poor-quality agricultural upland . Much of the land was still owned by individual landowners, often private estates, but there was also property owned by public bodies such as the Crown , or charities which allow and encourage access such as the National Trust . Accessibility from
7493-477: The Countryside Act 1949 . The idea for a form of national parks was first proposed in the United States in the 1860s, where national parks were established to protect wilderness areas such as Yosemite . This model has been used in many other countries since, but not in the United Kingdom. After thousands of years of human integration into the landscape, Britain lacks any substantial areas of wilderness. Furthermore, those areas of natural beauty so cherished by
7620-456: The English and Welsh national parks that were originally proposed, two remain undesignated: the Cambrian Mountains and Cornish Coast. Of the twelve national parks in England and Wales, four are in the North of England, two in the Southwest, one in the North Midlands, two (the most recently designated) in the South and three in Wales. They cover 10.7 per cent of England and 19.9 per cent of Wales. They touch only sixteen English counties and there
7747-419: The Irish Sea to the North Sea, traverses the national park from west to east. Bridleways are intended for horse riding and walkers, with cyclists also permitted to use them. Cyclists must give way to all other bridleway users. Motor vehicles are only allowed on "byways open to all traffic" ( green lanes ) but in practice Traffic Regulation Orders have been brought in on several prohibiting motor traffic, although
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#17327976540257874-621: The Lake District Peninsulas to the south lying outside the National Park. There are only a few major settlements within this mountainous area: the towns of Keswick ; Windermere and Bowness-on-Windermere (which are contiguous); and Ambleside, are the three largest. The economies of all these are heavily dependent on tourism. Significant settlements close to the boundary of the national park include Carlisle , Barrow-in-Furness , Kendal , Ulverston , Dalton-in-Furness , Whitehaven , Workington , Cockermouth , Penrith , Millom and Grange-over-Sands ; each of these has important economic links with
8001-414: The Lake District is generally very windy: the coastal areas have 20 days of gales, and the fell tops around 100 days of gales per year. The maritime climate means that the Lake District has relatively moderate temperature variations throughout the year. The mean temperature in the valleys ranges from about 3 °C (37 °F) in January to around 15 °C (59 °F) in July. (By comparison, Moscow , at
8128-437: The Lake District – is wholly coincident with a national park whilst a part of the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site falls within the Brecon Beacons National Park and parts of the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd and of the Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales fall within Snowdonia National Park. Download coordinates as: Workington Workington / ˈ w ɜːr k ɪ ŋ t ən /
8255-450: The Lake District, North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales all abut AONBs and in addition the coasts of Exmoor and the North York Moors coincide with heritage coasts . All the Parks contain in varying numbers Sites of Special Scientific Interest and national nature reserves . A part of the Brecon Beacons National Park is also designated as one of the UNESCO Global Geoparks . Of the various World Heritage Sites in England and Wales , one –
8382-440: The Lake District. They can be regarded as comprising a northern grouping between Wasdale, Eskdale, and the two Langdale valleys, a southeastern group east of Dunnerdale and south of Little Langdale, and a southwestern group bounded by Eskdale to the north and Dunnerdale to the east. The first group includes England's highest mountains: Scafell Pike in the centre, at 978 m (3,209 ft) and Scafell one mile (1.6 km) to
8509-431: The Pacer trains were based on the Leyland National bus design, designed as a cheap stop-gap by British Rail . Volvo Buses acquired Leyland Buses in 1988. By 1993, the factory had closed with the loss of 200 jobs. The former bus plant is now a warehouse for the logistics company Eddie Stobart , which bought the property in 1995. Workington is linked by the A596 road to Maryport , to Whitehaven via A595 road , by
8636-416: The Peak District National Park the estimate in 2004 for visitor spending is £185 million, which supports over 3,400 jobs, representing 27% of total employment in the national park. The national park authorities have two roles: to conserve and enhance the park, and to promote its use by visitors. These two objectives cause frequent conflicts between the needs of different groups of people. It is estimated that
8763-506: The Pembrokeshire Coast, North York Moors, Yorkshire Dales, Exmoor, Northumberland and Brecon Beacons national parks all being designated. Other areas were also considered: for example, parts of the coast of Cornwall were considered as a possible national park in the 1950s but were thought to be too disparate to form a single coherent national park and were eventually designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) instead. The north Pennines were also considered for designation as
8890-408: The Scottish parks under separate legislation. Slightly over half the members of each national park authority are appointees from the principal local authorities covered by the park; the remainder are appointed by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (in England) or the Welsh Ministers (in Wales), some to represent local parish or community councils, others to represent
9017-410: The United Kingdom the total increases to 22,660 square kilometres (average 1511 km ). The most-visited national park is the Lake District, with 15.8 million visitors in 2009, although by visitor days the South Downs at 39 million compares to 23.1 million for the Lake District. There are currently no national parks in Northern Ireland though there have been controversial moves to establish one in
9144-570: The Welsh Ministers. All fifteen United Kingdom national parks are represented by the Association of National Park Authorities , which exists to provide the park authorities with a single voice when dealing with government and its agencies. The Campaign for National Parks (formerly Council for National Parks) is a charity that works to protect and enhance the national parks of England and Wales. National parks were first designated under
9271-545: The area to be "buoyed up". The granite can be seen at the surface as the Ennerdale, Skiddaw, Carrock Fell, Eskdale, and Shap granites. Broadly speaking the area can be divided into three bands, divisions which run southwest to the northeast. Generally speaking, the rocks become younger from the northwest to the southeast. The northwestern band is composed of early to mid- Ordovician sedimentary rocks , largely mudstones and siltstones of marine origin. Together they comprise
9398-576: The area, which consists of the High Stile ridge north of Ennerdale, the Loweswater Fells in the far northwest, the Pillar group in the southwest, and Great Gable (899 m (2,949 ft)) near Sty Head. Other tops include Seatallan , Haystacks and Kirk Fell . This area is craggy and steep, with the impressive pinnacle of Pillar Rock its showpiece. Wastwater , located in this part,
9525-408: The area. Other villages are Coniston , Threlkeld , Glenridding , Pooley Bridge , Broughton-in-Furness , Grasmere , Newby Bridge , Staveley , Lindale , Gosforth and Hawkshead . Beyond these are a scattering of hamlets and many isolated farmsteads, some of which are still tied to agriculture; others now function as part of the tourist economy. The Lake District is very nearly contained within
9652-600: The areas now designated as national parks have been occupied by humans since the Stone Age , at least 5,000 years ago and in some cases much earlier. Before the 19th century relatively wild, remote areas were often seen simply as uncivilised and dangerous. In 1725 Daniel Defoe described the High Peak as "the most desolate, wild and abandoned country in all England". However, by the early 19th century, romantic poets such as Byron , Coleridge and Wordsworth wrote about
9779-547: The boundaries of the national park (and additionally Drigg , about a third of a mile from the park boundary). The line gives railway enthusiasts and others a flavour of a pre- Beeching railway line, with features like manually operated level crossing gates, as well as giving a good connection to the steam railway into Eskdale and providing access for cyclists and serious walkers to the Western Fells. The narrow gauge Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway runs from Ravenglass on
9906-423: The cause of public access in the political arena. In 1931 Christopher Addison (later Lord Addison) chaired a government committee that proposed a 'National Park Authority' to choose areas for designation as national parks. A system of national reserves and nature sanctuaries was proposed: (i) to safeguard areas of exceptional natural interest against (a) disorderly development and (b) spoliation; (ii) to improve
10033-607: The central Lake District, though the town of Kendal , some coastal areas and the Cartmel and Furness peninsulas are outside the park boundary. The area was designated a national park on 9 May 1951, a month after the Peak District , the first UK national park. It retained its original boundaries until 2016, when it was extended by 3% to the east, in the direction of the Yorkshire Dales National Park , to incorporate areas land of high landscape value around
10160-638: The closure of the Moss Bay Steelworks, steel for the plant was brought by rail from Teesside . The plant was closed in August 2006, but welding work on rails produced at Corus Groups ' French plant in Hayange continued at Workington for another two years, as the Scunthorpe site initially proved incapable of producing rails adequately. After the loss of the two industries on which Workington
10287-504: The closure. During the Second World War , a strategically important electric steel furnace which produced steel for aircraft engine ball bearings was moved to Workington from Norway to prevent it falling into Axis hands. Workington was the home of Distington Engineering Company (DEC), the engineering arm of British Steel Corporation (BSC), which specialised in the design of continuous casting equipment. DEC, known to
10414-613: The coast of the Irish Sea from Drigg in the north to Silecroft in the south, encompassing the estuaries of the Esk and its tributaries, the Irt and the Mite . The intertidal zone of the combined estuaries includes sand, shingle and mudflats, and saltmarsh . The dune systems on either side of the estuary are protected as nature reserves; Drigg Dunes and Gullery to the north and Eskmeals Dunes to
10541-402: The country. Despite their name, they are quite different from national parks in many other countries, which are usually owned and managed by governments as protected community resources, and which do not usually include permanent human communities. In the United Kingdom, an area designated as a national park may include substantial settlements and human land uses that are often integral parts of
10668-420: The criteria for designating suitable areas: The essential requirements of a National Park are that it should have great natural beauty, a high value for open-air recreation and substantial continuous extent. Further, the distribution of selected areas should as far as practicable be such that at least one of them is quickly accessible from each of the main centres of population in England and Wales . Lastly there
10795-406: The districts of Stainburn, Derwent Howe, Ashfield, Banklands, Frostoms (Annie Pit), Mossbay, Moorclose, Salterbeck , Bridgefoot , Lillyhall, Harrington , High Harrington, Clay Flatts, Kerry Park, Westfield and Great Clifton . The Marsh and Quay, a large working-class area of the town around the docks and a major part of the town's history, was demolished in the early 1980s. Much of its former area
10922-646: The east side of Bassenthwaite Lake . "The A591, Grasmere, Lake District" was short-listed in the 2011 Google Street View awards in the Most Romantic Street category. The A593 and A5084 link the Ambleside and Coniston areas with the A590 to the south whilst the A592 and A5074 similarly link Windermere with the A590. The A592 also continues northwards from Windermere to Ullswater and Penrith by way of
11049-534: The edges of these Ordovician and Silurian rocks on the northern, eastern, and southern fringes of the area is a semi-continuous outcrop of Carboniferous Limestone seen most spectacularly at places like Whitbarrow Scar and Scout Scar . The Lake District's location on the northwest coast of England, coupled with its mountainous geography, makes it the wettest part of England. The UK Met Office reports average annual precipitation of more than 2,000 mm (80 in), but with considerable local variation. Although
11176-449: The entire region receives above-average rainfall, there is a wide disparity between the amounts of rainfall in the western and eastern lakes, as the Lake District experiences relief rainfall . Seathwaite, Borrowdale is the wettest inhabited place in England with an average of 3,300 mm (130 in) of rain a year, while nearby Sprinkling Tarn is even wetter, recording over 5,000 mm (200 in) per year; by contrast, Keswick, at
11303-598: The establishment of national parks as part of the post-war reconstruction of the UK. A report by John Dower , secretary of the Standing Committee on National Parks, to the Minister of Town and Country Planning in 1945 was followed in 1947 by a Government committee, this time chaired by Sir Arthur Hobhouse , which prepared legislation for national parks, and proposed twelve national parks. Sir Arthur had this to say on
11430-582: The few carnivorous plants native to Britain. The Lake District is a major sanctuary for the red squirrel and has the largest population in England (out of the estimated 140,000 red squirrels in the United Kingdom, compared with about 2.5 million grey squirrels ). National parks of the United Kingdom National parks of the United Kingdom ( Welsh : parciau cenedlaethol ; Scottish Gaelic : pàircean nàiseanta ) are 15 areas of relatively undeveloped and scenic landscape across
11557-565: The first 25 years of the process, until Gilchrist and Thomas improved upon it, phosphorus-free haematite was required. With Cumbria as the world's premier source, and the local coalfield providing energy for steel production, the world's first large-scale steelworks was opened in the Moss Bay area of the town. The Bessemer converter continued to work until July 1974. The Moss Bay Steelworks closed in 1982, despite receiving notable infrastructural investment and improvement almost immediately before
11684-597: The generally lower southern part of the area. The Lake District extends to the sea to the west and south. The highest mountain in England, Scafell Pike (978 m or 3209 feet), has a far-reaching view on a clear day, ranging from the Galloway Hills of Scotland, the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and Snowdonia in Wales. The mountains (or ' fells ') of the Lake District are known as
11811-537: The head of Windermere - Grasmere, Great Langdale and Little Langdale, and the Coniston Water valley. The valleys break the mountains up into blocks, which have been described by various authors in different ways. The most frequently encountered approach is that made popular by Alfred Wainwright who published seven separate area guides to the Lakeland Fells. Only one of the lakes in the Lake District
11938-536: The inspirational beauty of the "untamed" countryside. Wordsworth described the English Lake District as a "sort of national property in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive and a heart to enjoy" in 1810. This early vision, based in the Picturesque movement, took over a century, and much controversy, to take legal form in the UK with the National Parks and Access to
12065-527: The land, in an attempt to prevent the development. In 2011 a closed meeting of Allerdale councillors discussed the sale of the site, but the council rescinded on its decision to sell it to Tesco in June 2011. Tesco stated that it was still seeking a site for a store of around 60,000 sq ft (5,600 m ) Workington to replace the established one. In 2014, North West MEP Julie Ward closed her Workington office and relocated it to Manchester . During
12192-557: The landscape. Land within national parks remains largely in private ownership. These parks are therefore not "national parks" according to the internationally accepted standard of the IUCN but they are areas of outstanding landscape where planning controls are a little more restrictive than elsewhere. Within the United Kingdom there are fifteen national parks of which ten are in England, three in Wales , two in Scotland , and none in Northern Ireland. An estimated 110 million people visit
12319-512: The local people as "Chapel Bank", had an engineering design office, engineering workshops and a foundry that at one time contained six of the seven electric arc furnaces built in Workington. The seventh was situated at the Moss Bay plant of BSC. In the 1970s, as BSC adapted to a more streamlined approach to the metals industry, the engineering design company was separated from the workshops and foundry and re-designated as Distington Engineering Contracting. Employing some 200 people, its primary purpose
12446-464: The lower end of Borrowdale , receives 1,470 mm (58 in) every year, and Penrith (just outside the Lake District) only 870 mm (34 in). March to June tend to be the driest months, with October to January the wettest, but at low levels, there is relatively little difference between months. Although there are gales in the sheltered valleys on only five days a year on average,
12573-419: The means of access for pedestrians to areas of natural beauty; and (iii) to promote measures for the protection of flora and fauna . However, no further action was taken after the intervention of the 1931 General Election . The voluntary Standing Committee on National Parks first met on 26 May 1936 to put the case to the government for national parks in the UK. After World War II, the Labour Party proposed
12700-480: The model adopted in many other countries, such as the US and Germany, this does not mean the area is owned by the state. National parks in the United Kingdom may include substantial settlements and human land uses which are often integral parts of the landscape, and within a national park there are many landowners including public bodies and private individuals. Archaeological evidence from prehistoric Britain shows that
12827-563: The mudstones and wackes of the Windermere Supergroup and which includes (successively) the rocks of the Dent, Stockdale, Tranearth, Coniston, and Kendal groups. These are generally a little less resistant to erosion than the sequence of the rock to the north and underlie much of the lower landscapes around Coniston and Windermere. Later intrusions have formed individual outcrops of igneous rock in each of these groups. Around
12954-539: The national interest. The Broads Authority also has members appointed by Natural England , Great Yarmouth Port Authority and the Environment Agency . The national park authorities and the Broads Authority are covered by regulations similar to those that apply to local councils. The national park authority for each park addresses the stated aim in partnership with other organisations, such as
13081-752: The national park, with the exception of the 2016 extension, was designated a World Heritage Site in 2017 as a cultural landscape . This was the fourth attempt to list the park, after two attempts in the 1980s and one in 2012 failed. The park is governed by the Lake District National Park Authority, which is based at offices in Kendal . It runs a visitor centre on Windermere at a former country house called Brockhole , Coniston Boating Centre, and information centres. The park authority has 20 members: six appointed by Westmorland and Furness Council, four by Cumberland Council, and ten by
13208-411: The national park. Many of these tracks arose centuries ago and were used either as ridge highways (such as along High Street ) or as passes for travelling across the ridges between settlements in the valleys. Historically these paths were not planned for reaching summits, but more recently they are used by fell walkers for that purpose. The Coast to Coast Walk , which crosses the north of England from
13335-405: The national parks of England and Wales each year. Recreation and tourism bring visitors and funds into the parks, to sustain their conservation efforts, and support the local population through jobs and businesses. However, these visitors also bring problems, such as erosion and traffic congestion , and conflicts over the use of the parks' resources. Access to cultivated land in England and Wales
13462-584: The national parks of England and Wales receive 110 million visitors each year. Most of the time it is possible to achieve both the original two purposes by good management. Occasionally a situation arises where access for the public is in direct conflict with conservation. Following the ethos of the Sandford Principle , the Environment Act 1995 sets down how a priority may be established between conservation and recreational use. Similar provision has been made for Scottish national parks. Although recreation and tourism bring many benefits to an area, they can also bring
13589-455: The new shopping centre, the initial planning title of Washington Square has been retained. In February 2019 plans for a new stadium for Workington were announced. This would in involve the demolition of Borough Park and Derwent Park. In June 2019, it was announced by the new leadership of Allerdale Borough Council that a new sports stadium would not be built. A plan to build a 92,900 sq ft (8,630 m ) Tesco Extra store on
13716-457: The north of this region are the lower fells of Martindale Common and Bampton Common whilst in the south are the fells overlooking the Kentmere valley. Further to the east, beyond Mardale and Longsleddale is Shap Fell, an extensive area consisting of high moorland , more rolling and Pennine in nature than the mountains to the west. The Southern Fells occupy the southwestern quarter of
13843-536: The park authorities received around £35.5 million of central government funding. The UK's national parks are members of National Parks UK, which works to promote them, and to facilitate training and development for staff of all the parks. Natural England is the statutory body responsible for designating new national parks in England, subject to approval by the Secretary of State; Natural Resources Wales designates new national parks in Wales, subject to approval by
13970-402: The policies and their interpretation are stricter than elsewhere. This is supported and encouraged by the government who regard: Tourism is an important part of the economy of the regions which contain national parks. Through attractions, shops and accommodation, visitors provide an income and a livelihood to local employers and farmers. This income provides jobs for the park. For example, within
14097-479: The public has a right of way , all of which are signposted at their origin on public roads and at some other points. Within the area of the National Park in 2012 there were 2,159 km (1,342 mi) of public footpaths , 875 km (544 mi) of public bridleways , 15 km (9 mi) of restricted byways and 30 km (19 mi) of byways open to all traffic . There is also a general " right to roam " in open country, which includes approximately 50% of
14224-403: The range at 852 m (2,795 ft), Grisedale Pike and the hills around the valley of Coledale , and in the far northwest is Thornthwaite Forest and Lord's Seat . The fells in this area are rounded Skiddaw slate , with few tarns and relatively few rock faces. The Western Fells lie between Buttermere and Wasdale , with Sty Head forming the apex of a large triangle. Ennerdale bisects
14351-466: The romantic poets were often only maintained and managed in their existing state by human activity, usually agriculture. By the early 1930s increasing public interest in the countryside, coupled with the growing and newly mobile urban population, was generating increasing friction between those seeking access to the countryside and landowners. Alongside of direct action trespasses, such as the mass trespass of Kinder Scout , several voluntary bodies took up
14478-414: The same latitude, ranges from −10 to 19 °C (14 to 66 °F).) The relatively low height of most of the fells means that, while snow is expected during the winter, they can be free of snow at any time of the year. Normally, significant snowfall only occurs between November and April. On average, snow falls on Helvellyn 67 days per year. Snow typically falls on 20 days of the year in the valleys, with
14605-528: The south. South of the estuary, the coast is formed in low cliffs of glacial till , sands, and gravels. The district also extends to the tidal waters of Morecambe Bay and several of its estuaries alongside the Furness and Cartmel Peninsulas , designated on M6 motorway signposts as the "Lake District Peninsulas", and the southern portions of which lie outside the park. These are the Duddon Estuary ,
14732-548: The southern and western fringes of the area. A single railway line, the Windermere Branch Line , penetrates from Kendal to Windermere via Staveley. Railways once served Broughton-in-Furness and Coniston (closed to passengers in 1958) and another ran from Penrith to Cockermouth via Keswick (closed west of Keswick in 1966 and completely in 1972). Part of the track of the latter is used by the improved A66 trunk road. The Cumbrian Coast line has three stations within
14859-567: The southern boundary. The southwestern Lake District ends near the Furness peninsula and Barrow-in-Furness, a town which many Lake District residents rely on for basic amenities. The southeastern area is the territory between Coniston Water and Windermere and east of Windermere towards Kendal and south to Lindale. There are no high summits in this area which are mainly low hills, knolls and limestone cuestas such as Gummer's How and Whitbarrow . Indeed, it rises only as high as 333 m (1,093 ft) at Top o' Selside east of Coniston Water;
14986-598: The southwest. Though it is slightly lower, Scafell has a 700 ft (210 m) rockface, Scafell Crag, on its northern side. This group also includes the Wastwater Screes overlooking Wasdale, the Glaramara ridge overlooking Borrowdale, the three tops of Crinkle Crags , Bowfell and Esk Pike . The core of the area is drained by the infant River Esk . Collectively these are some of the Lake District's most rugged hillsides. The second group, otherwise known as
15113-546: The valley between this massif and the North Western Fells. The North Western Fells lie between Borrowdale and Bassenthwaite Lake to the east and Buttermere and Lorton Vale to the west. Their southernmost point is at Honister Pass . This area includes the Derwent Fells above the Newlands Valley and hills to the north amongst which are Dale Head , Robinson . To the north stand Grasmoor , highest in
15240-641: The west coast up Eskdale as far as Dalegarth Station near the hamlet of Boot, catering for tourists. Another heritage railway , the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway , runs between Lake Windermere and Haverthwaite , and tourists can connect at Lakeside with the boats up the lake to Bowness. A vehicle-carrying cable ferry , the Windermere Ferry , runs frequent services across Windermere. There are also seasonal passenger boats on Coniston Water, Derwent Water, and Ullswater. There are many paths over which
15367-558: The wide expanse of Grizedale Forest stands between the two lakes. Kendal and Morecambe Bay stand at the eastern and southern edges of the area. The main radial valleys are (clockwise from the south) Dunnerdale , Eskdale , Wasdale , Ennerdale , the Vale of Lorton, and Buttermere valley, the Derwent Valley and Borrowdale , the Ullswater valley, Haweswater valley, Longsleddale , the Kentmere valley, those converging on
15494-673: Was based in Moss Bay. Workington is also home to the headquarters of family haulage business J.R Dixon Ltd Workington is home to three theatres: the Carnegie Theatre , Theatre Royal and Workington Opera House . In the past Workington was a big town for variety acts and theatre and hosted many top acts including Tommy Cooper and Shirley Bassey . Workington Opera House also hosted many circus shows that included elephants and other circus animals performing on stage. The Carnegie Theatre and Theatre Royal are still open and put on performances all year round. The Workington Opera House
15621-552: Was built, coal and steel, Workington and the whole of West Cumbria became an unemployment blackspot. Industries in the town today include chemicals, cardboard, the docks (originally built by the United Steel Co.), waste management and recycling old computers for export, mainly to poorer countries. The town also houses the British Cattle Movement Service , a government agency set up to oversee
15748-610: Was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP), with a 31.7 per cent Labour majority by a margin of 13,286 votes. Historically it has been a Labour-supporting area, the town had elected a Conservative MP only twice since World War II , at the 1976 by-election and 2019 general election . Before Brexit , Workington was in the North West England European Parliamentary Constituency. For local government purposes, Workington
15875-465: Was introduced to Parliament in 1884 by James Bryce but it was not until 1931 that a government inquiry recommended the creation of a 'National Park Authority' to select areas for designation as national parks. Despite the recommendation and continued lobbying and demonstrations of public discontent, such as the 1932 Kinder Scout mass trespass in the Peak District, nothing further was done until
16002-583: Was long a producer of coal and steel. Between 79 and 122 CE, Roman forts , mile-forts and watchtowers were built along the Cumbrian coast, as defences against attacks by the Scoti of Ireland and the Caledonii , the most powerful tribe in what is now Scotland. The 16th-century Britannia , written by William Camden , describes ruins of these defences. A Viking sword was discovered at Northside. This
16129-457: Was the design, manufacture, installation and commissioning of continuous casting machines. This business is now owned by the TATA Group and employs 400 staff. One offshoot of the steel industry was the production of railway rails. Workington rails were widely exported and a common local phrase was that Workington rails "held the world together." Originally made from Bessemer steel, but after
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