Lakeland walls generally have one or more layers of ‘through-stones’ laid across the wall to increase stability. Some have small rectangular ‘smoots’ at their base so hares and rabbits can pass from one field to the next. Others have larger holes in them variously known as sheep runs, cripple holes or sheep smoots to allow sheep to pass from one pasture to another.
Plants and wildlife
Cumbrian fell ponies still live wild in the Eastern Fells, ospreys nest in the woods above Bassenthwaite and a solitary golden eagle inhabits the hills around the head of Haweswater. However, you are unlikely to see them from your bike. Nevertheless, there is plenty of wildlife to see if you stay alert. The cavities in stone walls provide both shelter and hunting ground for the insect eating wren. Their constant movement makes them difficult to spot, but if you hear their trilling call, stop and you will catch sight of them bobbing about ahead of you. After the wood pigeon and the chaffinch, it is one of the commonest birds in the UK with an estimated population of seven to eight million; its success due to its ability to thrive in a varied range of habitats.
When riding along quieter lanes, you may occasionally find your presence has disturbed a large bird of prey from its perch and catch sight of it silently moving through the tree canopy above. Most likely, it is a common buzzard. Despite being much smaller than the golden eagle, it is still a formidable predator, dropping down on rabbits and small mammals, which they nearly always kill on the ground. You may also see them hovering high in the sky and hear their plaintive mewing call, especially in spring when they are displaying to potential mates. In recent years, their numbers have exploded and they now thrive in areas where they were once a rarity.
When it comes to mammals, there is one very special species you should look out for – the red squirrel. Ever since Victorians released the North American grey squirrel into the wild in 1876, the red squirrel has been on the retreat. However, they still have a foothold in the woodlands in the northern parts of the Lake District and you may see one if you look for the road signs warning drivers of their presence. Contrary to popular belief, squirrels do not hibernate, as they need to eat all year round to survive, so look out for them right through the year. You may also see signs asking people to report sightings of any grey squirrels, which are increasing in numbers around the periphery of the national park. Conservation bodies are taking a number of steps to protect and promote the population of red squirrels. These include providing special feeders that only the reds can access and putting squirrel ladders across busy roads so they can safely move from one area of woodland to another. Beatrix Potter, creator of Squirrel Nutkin, would surely approve.
Primroses – one of the many wild flowers found along the verges in the Lake District
As well as protecting animals, the National Park Authority and other conservation organisations are also involved in protecting threatened habitats and plant species. This includes different types of grassland, upland heaths and mires, which are important habitats for the rare natterjack toad. Protected plant species include juniper, which exists in patches alongside the road between Little Langdale and Blea Tarn, and various lichens and mosses. In total, the Lake District is home to eight National Nature Reserves and over a thousand Sites of Special Scientific Interest as well as a number of other conservation areas.
History and culture
The history of any region is always determined by its natural resources and the Lake District is no different. At least 5000 years ago, communities settled in the valleys, erecting stone circles such as Castlerigg and venturing into the fells for material to shape into stone axes, which have since been found at archaeological sites all over Britain. The Celts, Romans, Angles and Vikings all settled across the district leaving evidence of their presence in Roman forts, Viking crosses and in place names with Nordic elements such as ‘thwaite’ meaning clearing and ‘beck’ meaning stream.
During the 15th and 16th centuries, many fortified tower houses and pele towers, such as Dacre Castle, were built as protection against the ‘Border Reivers’ who repeatedly made raids into what was known as the ‘Debateable Lands’ to rustle cattle, pillage and extort money. Once the borderline between England and Scotland was finally agreed in 1552 raiding diminished. Then when the thrones of Scotland and England were united in 1603, King James embarked on the ‘Pacification of the Borders’, rounding up the main reiver families and deporting many of them to Ireland. Religious communities also settled in the Lake District during the Middle Ages. Cartmel Priory survives intact as the village church, the abbey at Shap was largely dismantled after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the middle of the 16th century and an earlier abbey at Dacre was destroyed by Vikings in the 10th century.
Today we value the Lake District for recreation and enjoyment and tourism is the mainstay of the local economy. But its natural resources meant it was once a hive of industry. There is evidence of mining and quarrying from the 12th century, but the Romans clearly quarried materials for roads and buildings locally. Over the centuries, lead, copper, zinc, baryte, haematite, tungsten, graphite, fluorite, and coal have all been mined and quarried on a small scale within the boundaries of the national park; today slate mining continues at the top of the Honister and Kirkstone passes. Coal, iron ore and haematite were mined on a large scale at sites in West Cumbria in the 19th and early 20th centuries. To the east, granite and limestone are still quarried at Shap.
Good transportation was essential to move materials out of the area and canals and then railways encroached into the region on all sides. Today trains still run on some of the branch lines, which have been lovingly preserved as tourist attractions, while other lines have been transformed into traffic-free cycle paths that form part of the National Cycle Network.
A patchwork of stone walls and barns in the Duddon Valley (Stage 5B and Routes 11 and 12)
Since the mid-Victorian era, tourism has grown until it dominates the local economy. In 2013, nearly 16 million visitors spent over £1 billion creating the equivalent of 15,500 full time jobs, which is approximately 40 per cent of the total population of the national park, a proportion which would be substantially higher if only those of working age were considered. In addition, tourists have provided a ready market for the myriad of artists, craft workers, artisan food producers and micro-brewers found in the district.
BOBBIN MILLS
When the Lancashire textile industry was at its height in the 19th and early 20th centuries it had an insatiable need for bobbins for spinning and weaving and the vast majority were turned at one of the 65 mills scattered across the Lake District. The woods and copses in the valleys were coppiced to supply birch, ash and oak of the right diameter and the fast flowing streams provided power to drive the lathes until superseded by steam.
Today, the most famous is Stott Park Bobbin Mill near the southern tip of Windermere, which was set up by John Harrison, a local farmer, in 1835 and ran until it was abandoned in 1971 when the arrival of plastic bobbins finally put it out of business. Attracted by its remarkable state of preservation, English Heritage acquired the mill in 1991 and turned it into a working museum. But even at its peak, Stott Park was a minor producer employing only 25 men and boys and producing a mere 12 million bobbins a year. Low Briery Mill on the banks of the River Greta east of Keswick produced 40 million bobbins each year, while Howk Mill in Caldbeck, which employed nearly 60 people at its peak, is thought to have made even more.
The American Civil War interrupted the supply of cotton during the 1860s and the bobbin industry suffered as a result. It never fully recovered, having to compete against textile manufacturers turning their own bobbins on steam-powered lathes at their factories and an influx of cheaper imports from abroad. Many mills diversified into other wooden products from rungs for ladders to tool handles and even toggles for fastening duffle coats. Today little remains other than a few notable ruins, many of the old mills having been converted into pleasant beck-side cottages.