A591 road

Last updated

UK road A591.svg
A591
Route information
Length43 mi (69 km)
Major junctions
North end Bothel
Major intersectionsUK road A595.svg A595
UK road A66.svg A66
UK road A5271.svg A5271
UK road A593.svg A593
UK road A5075.svg A5075
UK road A592.svg A592
UK road A5074.svg A5074
UK road A5284.svg A5284
UK road A6.svg A6
UK road A590.svg A590
South end Sedgwick
Location
Country United Kingdom
Primary
destinations
Keswick
Grasmere
Ambleside
Windermere
Kendal
Road network
The A591 as it passes between Ambleside and Grasmere A591 road, Lake District - June 2009 Edit 1.jpg
The A591 as it passes between Ambleside and Grasmere

The A591 is a major road in Cumbria, which lies almost entirely within the Lake District national park. [1] A 2009 poll by satellite navigation firm Garmin named the stretch of the road between Windermere and Keswick as the most popular road in Britain. [2] [3] The 29.8 mile stretch between Kendal and Keswick was also named the UK's best driving road, according to a specially devised driving ratio formulated by car rental firm Avis. [4]

Contents

Route

The road begins (at its southern end) 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north-west of junction 36 of the M6 motorway at Brettargh Holt roundabout with the A590 road ( 54°16′29″N2°45′38″W / 54.2746°N 2.7605°W / 54.2746; -2.7605 (A591 road (southern end)) ), close to Sizergh Castle. [5] It bypasses the town of Kendal as a dual carriageway, this £1.9m 3-mile (4.8 km) section opened on 29 August 1971. It becomes a busy single carriageway road as it enters the Lake District. It bypasses the town of Windermere, closely following the north-eastern bank of Windermere. It then travels through the centre of Ambleside, follows the northern side of Rydal Water, passes White Moss Common, follows the eastern edge of Grasmere and passes the village of Grasmere. The road continues over Dunmail Raise and along the eastern edge of Thirlmere. Shortly afterwards it reaches the town of Keswick. It meets the A66 road at a grade-separated junction. Traffic then bypasses Keswick by following the A66 west for 2.2 km to a roundabout where the A591 resumes, continuing in a roughly north-westerly direction, with fine views over Bassenthwaite Lake. The road terminates at the village of Bothel, on the A595 road ( 54°44′09″N3°16′24″W / 54.7357°N 3.2733°W / 54.7357; -3.2733 (A591 road (northern end)) ). [6] The Bothel to Keswick section has many acute bends and is particularly narrow in places, so care is needed when driving on it.

Storm damage and closure

The road was badly damaged during Storm Desmond on 5 December 2015 including a part washed away at Dunmail Raise and landslip adjacent to Thirlmere. The closed section of road between Grasmere and Legburthwaite reopened on 11 May 2016. [7] While the road was closed a new tarmac path for walkers, cyclists, and horseriders was built to the west of the road at Dunmail Raise. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake District</span> Mountainous region and national park in North West England

The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region and national park in North West England. It is primarily famous for its mountain, lake, and coastal scenery, and for its literary associations with William Wordsworth and other Lake Poets, Beatrix Potter, and John Ruskin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A66 road</span> Trans-Pennine A road in Northern England

The A66 is a major road in Northern England, which in part follows the course of the Roman road from Scotch Corner to Penrith. It runs from east of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire to Workington in Cumbria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windermere, Cumbria (town)</span> Town in Cumbria, England

Windermere is a town in the Westmorland and Furness district in Cumbria, England; it is within the Lake District National Park. In the 2001 census, the civil parish of Windermere and Bowness had a population of 8,245, increasing at the 2011 census to 8,359. The town lies about half a mile (1 km) east of the lake, Windermere, from which it takes its name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A595 road</span> Road in Cumbria, England

The A595 is a primary route in Cumbria, in Northern England that starts in Carlisle, passes through Whitehaven and goes close to Workington, Cockermouth and Wigton. It passes Sellafield and Ravenglass before ending at the Dalton-in-Furness by-pass, in southern Cumbria, where it joins the A590 trunk road. The road is mostly single carriageway, apart from in central Carlisle, where it passes the castle as a busy dual carriageway road named Castle Way, and prior to that as Bridge Street and Church Street, where it passes close to the McVitie's or Carr's biscuit factory. The Lillyhall bypass is also dual carriageway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grasmere (village)</span> Village in Cumbria, England

Grasmere is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lakes, in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England, and situated in the centre of the Lake District and named after its adjacent lake. Grasmere lies within the historic county of Westmorland. The Ambleside and Grasmere ward had an estimated population of 4,592 in 2019. William and Dorothy Wordsworth, the 'Lake Poets', lived in Grasmere for 14 years and called it "the loveliest spot that man hath ever found."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A590 road</span> Trunk road in north west England

The A590 is a trunk road in southern Cumbria, in the north-west of England. It runs north-east to south-west from M6 junction 36, through the towns of Ulverston and Barrow-in-Furness to terminate at Biggar Bank on Walney Island. The road is a mixture of dual carriageway and single carriageway, with the section east of Low Newton, Cumbria to the M6 being mainly dual. Further dual sections are south of Newby Bridge, south of Greenodd and south of Ulverston. The road is the main route for tourists entering the southern Lake District. It has often humorously been described as "the longest cul-de-sac in the world".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windermere railway station</span> Railway station in Windermere, Cumbria, England

Windermere railway station serves Windermere in Cumbria, England. It is just south of the A591, about 25 min walk or a short bus ride from the lake. The station is located behind a branch of the Booths supermarket chain, which occupies the site of the original station building, in front of the Lakeland store. It is the terminus of the former Kendal and Windermere Railway single-track Windermere Branch Line, with a single platform serving one terminal track.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Rothay</span> River in Cumbria, England

The Rothay is a spate river of the Lake District in north-west England. Its name comes from Old Norse and translates literally as the red one. This has come to mean trout river. It rises close to Rough Crag above Dunmail Raise at a point about 1542 feet above sea level. Its catchment area covers Grasmere Common including Easedale Tarn, the southern flanks of Fairfield, and several of the fells to the east of Dunmail Raise, including Great Rigg, Rydal Fell, Scandale Fell and Heron Pike.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lakes, Cumbria</span> Civil parish in England

Lakes is a civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 5,127, decreasing at the 2011 census to 4,420. It covers the town of Ambleside, and the villages and hamlets of Clappersgate, Rydal, Grasmere, Troutbeck, Chapel Stile, Elterwater, Little Langdale and Waterhead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A592 road</span> Road in the England Lake District

The A592 road is a major route running north–south through the English Lake District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunmail Raise</span> Mountain and mountain pass in the English Lake District, Cumbria, England

Dunmail Raise is the name of a large cairn in the English Lake District, which may have been an old boundary marker. It has given its name to the mountain pass of Dunmail Raise, on which it stands. This mountain pass forms part of the only low-level route through the mountains between the northern and southern sides of the Lake District. According to local tradition, the cairn marked the burial of a king named Dunmail who was slain by Saxons. The place name itself may well be derived from the name of the historical Dyfnwal ab Owain, King of Strathclyde.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steel Fell</span>

Steel Fell is a fell in the English Lake District, lying between Thirlmere and Grasmere. It is triangular in plan, the ridges running north, west and south east. Steel Fell rises to the west of the Dunmail Pass road and can be climbed from the summit, or from Grasmere and Wythburn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rydal, Cumbria</span> Village in England

Rydal is a village in Cumbria, England. It is a small cluster of houses, a hotel, and St Mary's Church, on the A591 road midway between Ambleside and Grasmere.

The Central Fells are a group of hills in the English Lake District. Reaching their highest point at High Raise, they occupy a broad area to the east of Borrowdale. The Central Fells are generally lower than the surrounding hills, the Lake District's dome-like structure having a slight dip in the middle. The range extends from the boggy ridge between Derwentwater and Thirlmere in the north, to the rock peaks of the Langdale Pikes in the south.

National Cycle Route 6 is a route of the National Cycle Network, running from London to the Lake District.

Great Crosthwaite is a suburb of the tourist town of Keswick in the Lake District, in the English county of Cumbria.

The Keswick to Barrow Walk, also known as the K2B, is a 40 mile charity walking and running event which takes place annually in May in Cumbria, England, between Keswick and Barrow-in-Furness. The walk passes through much of the Lake District. It allows participants to run or walk as they choose. Most choose to walk, while the running contingent compete for the fastest runner trophy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagecoach bus route 555</span>

The Lakes Connection 555 is a bus route operated by Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire in Cumbria and Lancashire, England. The scenic route covers a distance of 45 miles (72 km) and runs between the towns of Keswick and Lancaster via Grasmere, Windermere, Kendal and Carnforth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St John's, Castlerigg and Wythburn</span> Civil parish in Cumbria, England

St John's, Castlerigg and Wythburn is a civil parish in Allerdale district, Cumbria, England. In the 2011 census it was recorded as having a population of 422. There is a parish council; its archives 1894–1995 are held at the Cumbria Archive Service in Carlisle. in 2004 a parish plan was drawn up and approved by the parish council.

References

  1. "A591 to 2 California Terrace". Google Map.
  2. "End of the Road for the Great British Drive – UK roads drive motorists to despair". Garmin. 2 March 2009.
  3. "Britain's Favourite Road". Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
  4. "UK's best driving roads revealed - Lake District's A591 comes out top". Archived from the original on 20 August 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  5. Map of The Lake District: South-eastern area (Sheet OL7). Ordnance Survey. 2017. ISBN   9780319263334.
  6. Map of The Lake District: North-western area (Sheet OL4). Ordnance Survey. 2017. ISBN   9780319242438.
  7. "Storm Desmond: A591 reopens ahead of schedule". BBC News. 11 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  8. "New trail to link flood-hit lakeland at Dunmail Rise". BBC News. 28 April 2016.
Map all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap

54°29′38″N3°02′19″W / 54.4939°N 3.0386°W / 54.4939; -3.0386 (A591 road)