The Lake District
The spectacular Lake District is considered by many to be the jewel in England’s crown, offering the country’s highest mountains, most stunning scenery, and loveliest countryside. Above all, it is a place to seek out active enjoyment; to walk, climb on the mountains, to sail and fish on the lakes. The National Trust protects about a quarter of the Lake District, including the central fell area, the major valley heads, and six of the main lakes and much of their shoreline. Among the National Trust’s historic properties are two houses of immense literary heritage. The Georgian Wordsworth House in Cockermouth is the birthplace of the poet William Wordsworth, and Hill Top, a petite 17th-century house, in the hamlet of Near Sawrey, is where Beatrix Potter wrote many of her children’s stories.

Derwentwater
Derwentwater is one of the glories of the Lake District and in it stand four islands owned by the
National Trust, the most northerly being Derwent Island, which from the 12th-century, was owned by Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire as a part of their Borrowdale Estate. For spectacular scenery Derwentwater rivals Windermere, Ullswater and Wastwater.

National Trust places nearby: Wordsworth House and Garden, Borrowdale, Force Crag Mine, Buttermere and Ennerdale, Derwent Island House. Shop and pub: Keswick. Tea-room/café/restaurant: Keswick. Other attractions: Victorian Christmas Fair, Keswick Victorian Fair in November, Mountain Festival in May, Whinlatter mountain forest. Activities: walking, boating, fishing, pony trekking.