The Lake District: Romance and War in England's Greatest Wilderness
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 มิ.ย. 2024
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Additional Sources:
Britannica, overview: www.britannica.com/place/Lake...
History of Cumbria and the Lakes: www.visitcumbria.com/history/
Lake District official site, some info: www.thelakedistrict.org/info/...
History of Cumbria: www.english-lakes.com/history...
ODNB, detailed biography of William Wordsworth: www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.109...
Historic UK, the stone circles: www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMa...
Telegraph, hidden history of the Lake District: www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/de...
Lake District literary history: www.literarytraveler.com/arti...
Romanticism in the Lake District: www.csmonitor.com/1983/1129/1...
JMW Turner: www.thelakedistrict.org/histo...
Live Science, Lake District geology: www.livescience.com/29936-eng...
The Windemere Children: www.theguardian.com/tv-and-ra...
Fascinating research paper on railways and tourism in the Lakes: www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rsc...
UNESCO, the Lakes: whc.unesco.org/en/list/422/
Smithsoanian, battle for LD’s future: www.smithsonianmag.com/scienc...
Offset your carbon footprint with me on Wren! We'll plant 10 extra trees for the first 100 people who sign up! wren.co/start/geographics
Why does this Wren thing just seem like a scam to me?
How did you pin this comment 4 days ago
I live here thank you so much for talking about Cumbria and the lakes
@@MosheMaserati More like greenwashing.
There’s technically only one lake in the Lake District. Bassenthwaite lake.
I’m from NY and visited the Lake District three times. I traveled there by train from Manchester. It is absolutely beautifull. The towns you pass by tell a story. How the scenery gradually changes from the home of the Industrial Revolution to a paradise is something you will never forget.
Oddly enough that's how I feel about the Finger Lakes region in NY. That region will forever have my heart it's so unbelievably stunning. I def wanna see the Lakes District in England tho.
@@kayseacamp you are very welcome with us. It is a beautiful quiet old place.
come visit switzerland and be blown away.. by the beauty of the mountains and the prices of everything xD
Isn't it, though :)
Yes!!! As you go past Manchester and Preston old industrial powerhouses, past the historic capital of Lancashire, Lancaster and then onwards to Kendal and Windermere the journey must’ve been incredible
I have lived and worked in the Lake District for many years, one major problem often overlooked by policymakers and romantics is the lack of basic NHS and Social Care services, poor bus services, if poor road, rail, and broadband services.
There is also extraordinarily little in the way of decent employment opportunities, outside the public sector, the BAE shipyards, and Sellafield in Whitehaven on the West Coast of Cumbria. Also, another major factor is the loss of EU farm subsidies from the Common Agricultural Policy, with the UK government being extremely cautious about its post Brexit arrangements for agriculture.
Housing is grossly expensive, pricing many young people out, many must leave for the likes of Manchester, Liverpool and further afield, thus affecting the future of the farms and the landscape of the Lakes,
Please do not get me wrong, there are many good things going on in the Lakes, whilst there are people who come to visit, it will continue to delight and mystify visitors from across the world.
Welcome to Kentucky in the United States.
I live here and can confirm all of this is true. Sadly going to have to move away until I’m older when I can afford it
@@lyleslaton3086 jumped right into the Narccsistic Suffering Olympics there, didn't you? It's not a competition, and nobody needs to be reminded that Kentucky is a hell hole. You could help change that by getting the politicians like McConnell out that made it that way instead of complaining.
Like Lyle said your description sounds like basically every US town more than 2 hours from a major city. I think the similarities are because you can't have cake and eat it too. If the Lakes had all those things it wouldn't be wilderness anymore. Even Yellowstone has almost nothing to support itself or the people who live there full time.
@@renesnow3799 I live in the Carlisle(city in cumbria) and majority of issues still apply, we're a holiday location they dont care about the people who actually live here
As a local of the Lake District my opinion is rewinding at its current level is not a threat to sheep farming, the majority of that pressure is coming from lack of income due to the poor price of produce.
Great video as well, very much enjoyed!
cumbrian born and bred myself penrith guy
@@Carvetii same here
The 90s were horrendous for the Lakes as was 2001 with foot n mouth.
Is it a bit odd that it's a nature preserve made by sheep grazing? Lol
@@MannsWoodlandPerspective that is to do with the history of it, the local dialect of Cumbrian is very different to English, the sheep, the people and a fuck ton of geology make the lakes what it is
At some point I have accepted that Simon and his team can make every video interesting. Thank you once again for teaching me about something I never knew I needed to know
Agreed! Don't ever remember hearing of the Lake District before. It was bucolically appealing and salve for a rural heart.
I live on the coast of Cumbria in a town called workington, I feel blessed to have this land on my door step
me to
This show introduces me to places I have never heard of, thank you.
We've got the Peak District as well but isn't quite as exciting.
1:20 - Chapter 1 - The bliss of solitude
5:15 - Chapter 2 - What wealth the how to me had brought
8:40 - Mid roll ads
10:20 - Chapter 3 - Lonely as a cloud
13:40 - Chapter 4 - In such a jocund company
17:25 - Chapter 5 - In vacant or pensive mood
21:15 - Chapter 6 - Continuous as the stars that shine
15:28 - invasion of salt and pepper shaker exterminators.
Thank goodness we're now understanding how much nature means to the human species. For 1000's of yrs., we've fought it, tried to tame it, abused it, tried to avoid it, & tried to destroy it. But homo sapiens is a PART of nature, so whatever we do to it, we do to ourselves. Appreciating nature & our place in it inspires & enriches our entire existence. We must cherish fresh air, clean water, & green trees - for, in truth, our very lives depend on them.
Absolutely agreed. If there is no nature, there is no world.
Well said
@@resileaf9501 You're so right. Earth would be a sad & empty place without birdsong, blooming flowers, & the rush of water down a mountain stream. Thanks for your comment.
@@louise-yo7kz Thank you so much! It's good to know others, like you & I, care about the world we live in. Thanks for your comment.
Why does Simon describing the geological history of a small part of England make me want to watch Time Team?
Best program ever made in England.
@@Stevenchefjones we've made many good TV programs but what sets time team out from the rest is Phil wearing cut off denim shorts.
@@choughed3072 hahah more for me helen geek just been super excited by the history and being so humbled by it.
I was born in Cumbria. It was great having this environment and pretty scenery within reasonable distance growing up.
should do an episode on the Peak District... in particular the Derwent/Howden/Ladybower Dams and the underground water supplies to Sheffield/Nottingham/etc. - theres definitely a MegaProjects video worth of content! Dambusters, sunken village etc
Indeed. Not many know about the beauty and massive engineering work.
The lake District captured my heart, mainly the northern lakes. I've never fallen in love with a place so quickly! And I live in Wales so I see a lot of natural beauty, but even Snowdonia doesn't make me feel the same way as the lakes do.
Truly an enchanted land
I live on the edge of the lake district national park (Cockermouth), and it really disappoints me that people cant respect the fells and mountains that are within the park.. litter and doggy bags scatter the fells, thats the true and sad reality.
I live near Whitehaven it’s the same crack down this end people just don’t care it’s appalling.
Glad for this video -- my dad was born and raised in the Lake District, in a village called Ravenglass.
I grew up hiking all over South Africa and I will say that Helvellyn is one of the most amazing hikes i`ve ever done!
Incredible mountain!
I live Egremont, I’m 10 minutes away from Scafell Pike.
Nice to see my local area on your channel Simon!.
It really is breathtakingly beautiful.
Egremont? Are you any good at pulling funny faces?
I love the Lakes and I enjoyed identifying the different places shown. My home from home, Wast Water, was so heavily used in the edit that it made my heart sing. Thank you, Jen, for letting me see my heaven. 😊
Wastwater and wasdale head in particular is just absolutely incredible.
I recently completed the 214 Wainwrights, all in the lake district and all worth the climb, I go there all the time and nothing beats the solitude you can find when climbing the peaks, get the right weather and the views can be stunning.
Have you done sharp edge on blencathra? Very nice knife edge arete.
@@dylannnnnnnnn On my to-do list when this covid lets me.
I grew up in Kendal, some 12 miles from the Lake District. Very lucky to be able to look out my window and see the mountains and the fells
What's for pudding Mum? Not mint cake again... 😊
If you lived in Kendal, you're in the Lake District if you travel halfway to Staveley.....
What a beautifully written and produced video. I actually felt moved by this one. This might be the best video on any of Simon's channels. I never thought I'd be able to choose a favourite, and I never in a million years would have expected it to be one on the Lake District. The closest I ever get to the Lake District is driving across the A66 on my way to Scotland, but now I think I need to visit properly.
It truly is an incredible place.
Fascinating Simon. Please consider a series on the national parks in other countries and continents. Thanks!
i second that. for smaller countries he could talk about them in one video (like switzerland, we have many but compared to the world... our country is the size of an average national park xD )
@@Axonteer yes, indeed. Would love a video about our one national Park as well.
Suggestion: (First a disclaimer - I've been addicted to caffeine for 45 years) - please do a video on caffeine. How Europe and America, once they were addicted to tea and coffee, did really horrible things to other people's in order to maximize profits - how the consumption of caffeine literally switched western populations from massive alcohol consumption to massive caffeine addiction which helped propel "the enlightenment" and capitalism at the same time it conditioned us to abandon our circadian rhythms to be able to adapt to the world of mechanization. The coffee and tea plants are insidious hijackers of 90% of the world's population. They may not be the only thing bringing civilization slowly to its knees, but they are in the top running.
Gorgeous. What a wonderful video! I quite liked how you also used lines from the poem as your chapter titles, a nice touch indeed.
The story of the Windermere Children had me sniffling, too. Maybe more could have been done, but that those poor kids were treated with such kindness - after seeing such hell - feels like an example of the best that humans can do and be. Of the beauty in us, and the healing it can give right along with the healing and beauty found in those valleys.
Beautiful place which I’m lucky to call home. But there’s only lake in the Lake District, Bassenthwaite Lake, the rest are mere’s, waters or tarns.
Technically there’s longlands lake but it’s about a mile away from the Lake District border😂
What is a mere? It is a lake.
@@JohannSebastianWainwright it’s not, it’s a mere. Still a body of water but it’s a mere.
The only lake in the Lake District is Bassenthwite lake 👍
@@jamesteasdale5969 the definition of a mere:
‘A mere refers to a lake that is shallow in relation to its size.’
@@jamesteasdale5969 a mere is a lake. End of.
Excellent. Always a pleasure to see Simon speak of England.
Eventually Wordsworth realised that clouds don't always "wander lonely", they form big groups of clouds which turn the place dark and rain on everything and spoil people's day. I'm surprised it took anyone living in the northwest of England any time to see this. 😊
I live in Cumbria and I really never knew how famous the lake District was. I know I am very lucky to live here but it does get boring on rainy days. Busy in summer as well.
I'd have to argue that the most famous poem in the English language is either Poe's "The Raven" or Frost's "The Road Not Taken." The one in the video by Wordsworth wasn't even mentioned in my English Lit class back in school, and we went through a *lot* of poems.
Must be a British/American thing. I went to school in UK and we did this poem to death
@@markdturnock Very probably. I realized that as I was typing my comment, but since there's just way more English speakers outside the UK than within, I figured I'd stand by what I said. I bet for people who went to school near the Lake District, they never heard the end of the poem lol
@@semaj_5022 There's also way more English speakers outside the US than within.
@@Gmackematix Yeah, since Britain went and colonized half the planet, the language stuck around after they left. They're mostly in the Indian subcontinent and Nigero with the rest mostly scattered throughout England's former colonies.
I'm from Little Langdale, so good to see this video. I live in the Outer Hebrides now so swapped one stunning place for another.
whats with the large scrapyard near langdale, in specific, the farm as you drive down from blea tarn, its an absolute disgrace to langdale, the farmer needs to get that cleaned up.
my parents got engaged at the top of scarfel pike, my dad chucked the ring at my mum and then they went back down (it was so windy they could barely stand up), theyre married 28 years this year
Scafell. No letter R
I’m surprised there is no mention of the Lake Districts most important contribution. It is home to many incredible dog breeds including the Parson/Jack Russell, Lakeland Terrier and other of the “Fell Terrier” breeds. The greatest breed from the area is the Patterdale Terrier.
I’m a fan of the Huddersfield Terrier. 😉 Mainly because they were beloved by one of my all-time favorite TV characters, Willie “Compo” Simmonite.
Jack Russell beats the Patterdale imo
The Romans had a pretty significant presence in the lakes too…
Yes the largest remaining Roman structure still in existence - Hadrian's wall is nearby. I should know because I used to live near there.
@@jamiearnott9669 their presence in the region is hugely significant as well. Roads, old forts and ports are still there now.
@@danielevans5286 of course, most roads are based on Roman originals and a third of towns and cities - like Carlisle, Chester,London,etc.
@@jamiearnott9669 I think the Lakes being apart of this system is really important. I loved the video, but it kind of missed that.
Great video. It would be nice if add about the rain forest within the lakes. As people don't realise that we rain forest in the UK.
I live in Penrith council area in Australia, which was named after a place in the Lake District.
10,000 BCE: Hey, fellas, let's settle here...
Five minutes later: DAMN, IT'S SO FRIGGIN' COLD...ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY...WE'RE HEADING SOUTH!
There is room in the lake district for both sheep and rewilding. This is particularly true as there are fewer sheep farmers. Designated areas for the different regions could be established with farmers paid to support Wilding of areas near them thus supplementing their income.
The hard right turn from peter rabbit to the holocaust is the most british thing ive ever heard in a narration
This is one of the most enlightening videos I have enjoyed for quite a while. Thank you!!
I’ve have heard of the Lake District. Often wondering about it. It is indeed beautiful.
You've never heard of the Lake District? Where have you been? Almost 20 million people visit here each year now......
The lake district is a lovely place, just needs more trees though, I like trees...
Agreed me and a friend went to orrest head recently and as we saw the Viking enclosures we both said it would be a lot nicer if they go rid of them and planted trees 😂
If you like trees, I suggest you try Scotland.......
Odd Simon doesn't mention Rheged and Urien.
To be fair, there's a lot he doesn't mention, loads, but it would have to be at least 4 times as long to cover all the history even briefly.
The Lake looks very peaceful.
My girlfriend and I skirted the Lake District in 2015. . . by bicycle. I recall the Shap pass. The descent into Kendal was. . . well, decent. We had started our day in Carlisle, and lunched in Penrith. Riding on the left side of the road was, to put it mildly, “disconcerting”
Riding on the right side of the road would have been even more dangerous.......
Beautiful place. Would love seeing it live someday. The pandemic has really made it difficult to make travel feasible in the foreseeable future, though.
Five minutes in...I'm moved already...this right here is one of your best videos Simon...I got goosebumps already
That was a lovely one Simon and team. Thanks 😊
Well done Simon. I always enjoy your well planned, and precisely executed presentations.
Simon and team, your most poetical and best ever video. Congratulations 👏
yep my home county of Cumbria and i wouldnt live anywhere else.
I visit twice a year to walk on the fells and will do until I'm too old to. It truly is a beautiful landscape
Genial fluffballs. Love it! Hey, Simon, why did you Change your shirt twice? 😉
Tax Inspector comment was hilarious.
Thanks for introducing me to that poetry. If I had ever heard of Mr. Woodworth(mssp?) I had long forgotten him.
@8:23 you quote 'John Dalton (1709-1763) the poet and Librettist' who said that the Lake District was 'alarming', but you show us a picture of John Dalton (1766-1844) the chemist/physicist., who loved the mountains so much, he measured the height of most of them with his barometer even before the ordnance survey engineers put on their hiking boots. Both J.D.'s came from Cumbria, but you might be hard pressed to find a photo of the earlier poet. Other than that tiny mistake, I really like this video and have saved it. I want my son to see it, before we go to the Lake District together next year.
I am so glad Simon wasn't in charge of naming periods of time. We would have got periods of time named "The time when everything could kill you" and "War, famine, pestilence, the past was the worst" and who could forget "The really, really cold, dark and scary time". I'm glad he stuck to naming like 17 TH-cam channels instead.
20:50 I recognize that bridge. It's on the northern side of the map in Forza Horizon 4, a really fun racing game on Xbox One
I am 73 years old and this is the first time i ever heard the Wordsworth poem.
Brilliant Simon. I grew up here :)
I live in the Yorkshire dales. Not too far from the lake District. It is truly breath taking. So is the Yorkshire dales, should you ever get the chance to visit.
I've been there to climb scafell and it's amazing
Visited in 2017 and it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve been!
According to the WREN carbon calculator, I'm worth 4 burping cows a year. And my teachers said I'd never amount to anything
It isn't entirely correct to say that the Windermere Children didn't get any therapy, they did art therapy and that has been found to be highly effective with children that have suffered trauma.
Windemere happens to be the hometown of a very well respected gentleman
Er, right.
Does this very well respected gentleman have a name?
You think that it's strange that the people who produced IKEA also produced Vikings who had a communal sense of the land and a pragmatic attitude towards making laws that worked for people first and foremost and rulers second?... The idea behind what IKEA should be is the very first page of that play book. IKEA sought to make new furniture and household items available to everyone. Not just the upper middle class. Suddenly a newly wed couple of the working class could afford a home in their own style instead of living with hand-me-down furniture for the two decades. The pragmatic idea of flat packing, but with assembly instructions even borderline illiterate people can follow, to keep cost down is as communal thinking as it gets... It's pretty much Viking thinking in motion: "This works. Let's do that!" :P
Poets like Wordsworth, and the guide he wrote, must have been enormously influential almost immediately. The Jane Austen novel _Pride and Prejudice,_ published in 1813, assumes its readers would immediately view a month-long trip to the Lake District as delightful.
1 of Britain's finest
I adore it, did Duke of Edinburgh silver there in 2009 💕☺️👌
Hey Simon, I would really love to see a video about how the Aglos and Saxons came to be in England? I have a rudamentary understanding that the Britons invited them to help deal with the Scots and Picts, but I would really like to know more. Who the Anglos and Saxons were, and how it came to be that they would dominate over most of England. Also, since you mentioned the Vikings, how they also came to stay and influence the country.
Thanks Simon thats one of the wonderful videos you have done Many many thanks Ian
Absolutely Fantastic!!
No mention of Alfred Wainwright?! 😮 shocking....
I just hope that means we'll get a full video on the great man.....
Looks cold and bleak to me. I half expect Trolls and Orcs on giant lizards to come racing across the ground.
😁
It can get a bit cold in Winter, but if we're out working in it and it does get cold, we put our shirts back on.........
@@Brian-om2hh 😂
Oh they do, we call them tourists.
"You can offset your environmental footprint by giving us money!"
Ahh.
Exactly. 🤣
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnd....... it's gone."
I love in Cumbria and worked for the national trust in many of its locations. I have also deeply engaged with the locals here, not wanting to be some outsider who came to take and never give back as so many other have done. I have a unique view on the ending argument and I think I can offer a lot of insight into the discussion that you ended this video with. Should you ever want to revisit this topic, I would be very happy to discuss the topics with one of your researchers.
what do you do within the national trust in the lakes
@@danielcasson7979 I don't any more. I was involved on on the ground in management on the commercial side.
My house is literally in the thumbnail, that caught me off guard
so you live in keswick!!!!
That’s cool. 😂
Would love episodes on the Yorkshire dale and North York Moors national parks tbh on all of them
The Montana of Europe!!
And there is another item for my bucket list... At this rate I'll need to ask Simon for his immortality formula.
The Lake District: a jewel of the northen england the real england
“Those Windermere peaks look like the perfect place to cry”
You have to find somewhere to park first. If that doesn't get you crying, nothing will.....
That happens a lot when you can't find anywhere to park.....
Saying hello here from Keswick 😃😃😃😃
A little known fact is that Cumbria was its own kingdom for a while, it was only incorporated into Scotland after the last Cumbrian king Dumnail was killed in battle by the English and Scots
I’m not a professional historian so pls don’t roast me
If you're wanting another similar topic, might I suggest Scotland's highlands? Some incredible geological stories, historical battles, massacres, and the tallest mountains in all of the UK!
Agreed places like Skye and glen coe easily gives the lakes a run for its money and hasn’t been trashed by people yet ether.
Ah it's good to see where I grew up on here.
Where abouts ?
@@Dave_Lad born in Barrow but spent 0-10 in Coniston before moving to Dalton (so not quite the lakes)
Same, I'm from whitehaven, but spent most of my youth in the lakes as its only an hours bike ride until you're in the middle of the national park
Amazing
A video on the place I live, fantastic
I’ve been there as a child very nice place.
I'm going glamping at the lake district near ulverston next week weird how this video popped up
as much as I wanted to visit the Lakes district on my trip to the UK... the traffic reports were horrific, like 1 and 2 hour tailbacks on most attractions and roads... bugger that for a game of Australian Tourist!!! instead I spent a very satisfying and relaxing week on the Brecon Beacons
Going there tomorrow, never been in winter before and it looks like there will be interesting weather
In the Lake District we get Winter, followed by 6 months of bad weather.....
You should do a video on Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canada and the Group of Seven.
Please could you do a geographics on the Yorkshire Dales, it is a beautiful part of North Yorkshire that has a long and interesting history.
Don’t. Let’s keep it to ourselves. Don’t want it turning into the lakes.
Noice ending. We’ll have to get used to this, there are just too many people on the planet. Enjoy the wilderness while you can.
Lol my only point of reference for the Lake District is, “Oh, that’s where Lizzy Bennet wanted to go, but didn’t in Pride and Prejudice!”
Could you do a Geographics on the Tumen River (the river dividing North Korea from China and Russia)?
Hope you make a similar video about switzerland :)
Flippen heck Simon you can't talk about the Lakes and not mention Alfred Wainwright :o
I love that a poet has the name Wordsworth
Quiet a few TH-cam photographers are located in this area or spent a lot of time in this parc (Thomas Heaton, Nigel Danson, James Popsys). Would love to visit this area
The lakes are lovely, with a real charm, but wilderness? You have to work to be in a quiet area.
I lived in Kendal for close 15 years. Even with how compact and busy everything was, it still felt like there was solitude and wilderness far easier to obtain then where I currently live. The Canadian Rockies.
Now I can’t even go into the mountains without having to deal with traffic congestion and toll booths plus park passes. Shame really
Being a local we keep some of the best spots to our selves :p
I think Epsom should be on the short list for an episode.