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.
Ambleside is a town and former civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Westmorland and located in the Lake District National Park, the town sits at the head of Windermere, England's largest natural lake. In 2020 it had an estimated population of 2596.
Westmorland is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. Between 1974 and 2023 Westmorland lay within the administrative county of Cumbria. In April 2023, Cumbria County Council was abolished and replaced with two unitary authorities, one of which, Westmorland and Furness, covers all of Westmorland, thereby restoring the Westmorland name to a top-tier administrative entity. The people of Westmorland are known as Westmerians.
Windermere is a town in the civil parish of Windermere and Bowness, in the Westmorland and Furness district in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England; it is within the Lake District National Park. The town lies about half a mile (1 km) east of the lake, Windermere, from which it takes its name. In 2021 it had a population of 4826.
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."
Rydal Mount is a house in the small village of Rydal, near Ambleside in the English Lake District. It is best known as the home of the poet William Wordsworth from 1813 to his death in 1850. It is currently operated as a writer's home museum.
Bowness-on-Windermere is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Windermere and Bowness, in the Westmorland and Furness district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. It lies next to Windermere lake and the town of Windermere to the north east and within the Lake District National Park. The town was historically part of the county of Westmorland and is also forms an urban area with Windermere. The town had a population of 3,814 in the 2011 Census.
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.
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.
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.
Rydal Water is a small body of water in the central part of the English Lake District, in the county of Cumbria. It is located near the hamlet of Rydal, between Grasmere and Ambleside in the Rothay Valley.
The A591 is a major road in Cumbria, which lies almost entirely within the Lake District national park. 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. 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.
Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire operates both local and regional bus services in Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear, England, as well as Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, which operates bus, coach, rail and tram services across the United Kingdom.
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.
The Brockhole Lake District Visitor Centre, also known as the Brockhole National Park Visitor Centre, is a visitor centre and tourist attraction managed by the Lake District National Park Authority. It is situated on the shore of Lake Windermere, roughly equidistant between the towns of Bowness-on-Windermere and Ambleside. It includes the Brockhole house and 30 acres (12 ha) of grounds, including 10 acres (4.0 ha) of formal gardens and an adventure playground. The centre organises a number of activities, including orienteering, kayaking and open water swimming, as well as regular exhibitions.
St Mary's Church is in the village of Rydal in the Lake District, Cumbria, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Windermere, the archdeaconry of Westmorland and Furness, and the diocese of Carlisle. The church, built in the Gothic revival style, is situated off the A591 road between Ambleside and Grasmere and is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.
