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Daffodils at the gates of Dalemain House, near to where William Wordsworth saw the host of blooms that inspired his famous poem

By the early 20th century, mandatory holidays for workers and a growing appreciation of the outdoors led to demands for greater access to the countryside. This created conflict between landowners and public interest groups such as the Ramblers’ Association, the Youth Hostels Association and the Council for the Preservation of Rural England who pressed the government for greater access. After World War II, the movement towards creating national parks gained momentum resulting in the establishment of the Peak District National Park and Lake District National Park in 1951. Today there are 15 national parks in the UK with the Lake District being the largest, covering an area of 2292sq km (885sq miles) with plans afoot to increase it further.

Despite being called the Lake District, there is only one lake – Bassenthwaite Lake – everything else being ‘waters’, ‘meres’ or, in the case of the smaller expanses of water, ‘tarns’. Some are not even natural. Thirlmere and Haweswater were created by damming natural valleys in the 1890s and 1930s to supply water for the towns and cities of Lancashire.