Westmorland is a historic county in north-west England. It formed an administrative county between 1889 and 1974, after which the whole county was administered by the new administrative and ceremonial county of Cumbria. The people of Westmorland are known as Westmerians. In April 2023, it is planned that local government in Cumbria will be reorganised into two unitary authorities, one of which is to be named Westmorland and Furness and would cover most of the historic county along with parts of historic Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumberland.
Windermere is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in length, and almost 1 mile (1.5 km) at its widest, it is a ribbon lake formed in a glacial trough after the retreat of ice at the start of the current interglacial period. 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. Forming part of the border between the historic counties of Lancashire and Westmorland, Windermere is today within the administrative county of Cumbria and the Lake District National Park.
South Lakeland is a local government district in Cumbria, England. The population of the non-metropolitan district was 102,301 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 103,658 at the 2011 Census. Its council is based in Kendal. It includes much of the Lake District as well as northwestern parts of the Yorkshire Dales.
The River Leven is a short river in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, falling within the historic boundaries of Lancashire. It drains Windermere from its southernmost point and flows for approximately 8 miles (13 km) into the northern reaches of Morecambe Bay. The river and its estuary are the boundary between the Cartmel Peninsula and Furness Peninsula and is part of North Lonsdale, also known as Lancashire North of the Sands.
A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow masonry arches, and has low parapets so as not to interfere with the panniers borne by the horses. Multi-arched examples sometimes have triangular cutwaters that are extended upward to form pedestrian refuges.
The Brathay is a river of north-west England. Its name comes from Old Norse and means broad river. It rises at a point 1289 feet above sea level near the Three Shire Stone at the highest point of Wrynose Pass in the Lake District. Its catchment area includes the northern flanks of Wetherlam, Great Carrs and others of the Furness Fells, as well as a substantial area of the Langdale Fells.
Westmorland and Lonsdale is a constituency in the south of Cumbria, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Tim Farron, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats (2015–2017).
The Trout Beck is a fast flowing stream of the Lake District in North West England. It is one of the main sources of replenishment for Windermere, and is part of the Leven catchment. Its name comes from Old Norse and appears in documents from 1292 as Trutebyk. The river rises between the peaks of Stony Cove Pike and Thornthwaite Crag in the High Street range, at a height of about 1,970 feet (600 m).
The Barony of Kendal is a subdivision of the English historic county of Westmorland. It is one of two ancient baronies that make up the county, the other being the Barony of Westmorland. In 1974, the entire county became part of the modern county of Cumbria and ceased to have an administrative function. At the same time, Kendal borough along with some other rural and urban districts in Westmorland was merged with the neighbouring parts of Lancashire, Furness and Cartmel, and also the Sedbergh Rural District of the West Riding of Yorkshire into the new South Lakeland district of the new county.
Cumbrian toponymy refers to the study of place names in Cumbria, a county in North West England, and as a result of the spread of the ancient Cumbric language, further parts of northern England and the Southern Uplands of Scotland.
The River Irt is a river in the county of Cumbria in northern England. It flows for 14 miles (22 km) from the south-western end of Wast Water, the deepest lake in England, leaving the lake at the foot of Whin Rigg, the southern peak of the famous Wastwater Screes. The name of the river is believed to derive either from the Old English gyr which means "mud", or from the Brittonic words *ar, "flowing", or *īr, "fresh, clean, pure", suffixed with -ed, a nominal suffix meaning "having the quality of...".
Cartmel Peninsula is a peninsula in Cumbria in England. It juts in a southerly direction into Morecambe Bay, bordered by the estuaries of the River Leven to the west and the River Winster to the east. It is, along with the Furness Peninsula, one of the two areas of that formed Lancashire North of the Sands, and the better known 'Furness' is often used to describe both peninsulae together. To its north, the peninsula's borders are usually given as the banks of Windermere and the border with the historic county of Westmorland between the Lake and the head of the Winster.
The River Eea is a small river in the Lake District, Cumbria, England running through the Furness region, which until 1974 was part of Lancashire. It is a relatively short system that arises from numerous small becks and streams throughout the Cartmel Valley. Its course is approximately 10 km long and its mouth is on Sand Gate marshes near Flookburgh, between Barrow and Kendal. It principally flows in a south-westerly direction.
Cliburn is a village and civil parish in the Eden district of Cumbria, England. The civil parish includes the hamlet of Town Head. In 2001 the population was 204, increasing to 274 at the 2011 Census.
Staveley-in-Cartmel is a small village and civil parish in South Lakeland district, Cumbria, England. It lies east of Newby Bridge, near the south end of Windermere, 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Ulverston. It is sometimes known as Staveley-in-Furness. Both names distinguish it from another Staveley in Cumbria. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 428, decreasing at the 2011 census to 405.
Staveley Fell is an upland area in the English Lake District, near Staveley-in-Cartmel, Cumbria, east of the southern end of Windermere. It is the subject of a chapter of Wainwright's book The Outlying Fells of Lakeland, but he admits that: "Strictly it has no name, not even locally, being referred to on Ordnance maps as Astley's and Chapel House Plantations, which are new forests severely encroaching upon it". He says it "commands a fine aerial view of the foot of Windermere." The fell reaches 870 feet (270 m) and Wainwright's route is a clockwise loop starting from Staveley-in-Cartmel. Chris Jesty in his revised edition of Wainwright's book provides an alternative route and comments that "There must be many people who, encouraged by the ordnance Survey map, or by the first edition of this book, have ... been turned back by an uncrossable fence."
Scandale Beck arises in Lake District National Park on Bakestones Moss, west of Kirkstone Pass, and flows south for much of its length of six and a half kilometers.
Winster is a village in the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, in North West England. Historically within the county of Westmorland, it is situated less than two miles east of Windermere, England's largest natural lake. The village is within the Lake District National Park. The village has a pub, the Brown Horse Inn, an 1850s coaching inn.
