“Surely there is no other place in this whole wonderful world like Lakeland,” wrote Alfred Wainwright in 1948. The accountant turned climber, in love with the region, inspired a generation of walkers, cyclists, nature lovers and holidaymakers to explore the region and to strengthen its legacy as a place of note in the process.
It’s quite a contrast, then, that in 2023, leaked documents revealed that ‘raw sewage’ had been discharged into Windermere, now one of the country’s most popular national parks. And this week, environmentalist Chris Packham accused a landowner of allegedly illegally felling trees on the shore of the same lake. The Forestry Commission was notified of the alleged felling in September, but no action was taken.
Windermere is the ‘gateway to the Lake District’ for many; a place that welcomed around 18 million visitors in 2022. Wainwright went on to write that the region was ‘extraordinarily beautiful’, that there was ‘no other so charming’ – but as environmental damage and overcrowding dominate the headlines in the summer, it seems we are in danger of losing its tranquillity.
Yet you could say that the Lake District has always been a place of extremes. Victorian tourists, under pressure from Wordsworth, Southey and Coleridge, were captivated by the idea of rolling fields, tended by rustic farmers, and the awe-inspiring mountains above. “Nature breathes among the hills and groves,” wrote Wordsworth in The Prelude – but the same nature threatened danger.
These extremes still exist, but the most pressing lies between the dark lows of raw sewage and, remarkably, the optimistic abundance of luxury places to stay.
The most acclaimed of these luxury locations is the revamped Langdale Chase, a 30-room hotel on the shores of Lake Windermere. The building itself dates from 1890, but its life as a hotel began in 1937. The hotel has been renovated and offers everything from dog-friendly rooms to a newly landscaped garden. It’s just one of many luxurious places to stay in the National Park. Take The Lakes Hotel and Spa in Bowness. It has installed hot tubs on every balcony, and those without a car can take advantage of the ‘Bentley chauffeur service’.
Then there’s the food. Once a secret, Cumbria is now England’s most Michelin-awarded county. There’s L’Enclume in Cartmel, essentially an old hand – awarded its first star in 2005, the second in 2012 and the third last year. It appeared in the first series of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon’s The Trip; this newspaper described it as a “clear expression of culinary genius”.
Newer additions include The Sampling in Ambleside, The Dog and Gun in Skelton, Forest Side in Grasmere: all starring himself. On the banks of Windermere, SOURCE at The Gilpin Hotel in Bowness is described by the Michelin Guide as ‘refined but not overly complex’.
So all of this feels quite a distance from Wainwright’s all-weather wandering. He might be dismayed to see that his “solitary ridges” have become almost unmanageably crowded in places.
The traffic bottlenecks – especially around Windermere – have become infamous. In early December, a heavy snowstorm left motorists stranded and roads impassable. Cumbria Police have reported a major incident; community centers provided assistance to those forced to spend the night in their cars.
However, it is in the summer months that the influx of visitors usually becomes a problem. Social media is often flooded with images of crowded sidewalks and long lines for ferry rides. The most famous parts of the region, especially towns such as Bowness – on the shores of Windermere – and Kendal, have seen a surge in popularity post-lockdown. This is of course what National Parks are for; they are there to be enjoyed by the audience. But there is a sense that the infrastructure is struggling to cope.
In fact, there’s something particularly ironic about the fact that the most popular part of the park is also the most polluted. According to investigators, the suspected illegal discharge of raw sewage into Windermere occurred for up to 70 days in 2022. Matt Staniek, director of the Save Windermere campaign, thinks it will inevitably impact the visitor experience.
“I couldn’t believe that even here – a beautiful place, within a national park and world heritage site – is not free from the exploitation of the water industry,” says Staniek.
“Last year we saw the largest blue-green algae bloom ever recorded on the lake. You could see it from space,” he says. “Nobody knew what to do. There were no warning signs telling people not to swim in the lake because it is potentially toxic.”
It doesn’t quite match anyone’s romantic idea of the Lake District. It also does not quite fit with the image that luxury catering establishments try to convey.
So why can’t we get the Lake District in order? In part, the Lake District’s problems are the problems we face across the country. Difficult access means tourists concentrate in certain areas; the rail network, unreliable as it is, only takes visitors to Oxenholme in the south and Penrith, further north. Cars clog the roads and car parks around Windermere as people rush to the most famous spots.
Gill Haigh, director of Cumbria Tourism, recognizes this as a problem. A much-discussed new Destination Management Plan “will help address some of the issues facing rural destinations,” she says. “These include improving access, infrastructure and visitor services, as well as attracting new investment, bringing in new talent and driving innovation.”
Nevertheless, more attractions are planned: in August, UNESCO’s advisory body warned that plans to build a cable car network in Langdale would “ruin the tranquility of the area”. Vocal opposition from locals cited the area’s inability to handle excess traffic; many are concerned that the Lake District’s World Heritage status could be threatened by the opening.
For Matt Staniek, the sewage in the lake is symptomatic of the area. “How can we continue to develop the economy here sustainably and support the people who come here, if the infrastructure cannot handle this?” he asks, pointing to waste surpluses as evidence that the region is buckling under pressure.
There’s a sense of the Lake District trying to become an adventure park, forgetting the things that made it exceptional in the first place. Moving away from Windermere and into the more obscure parts of the region – further north, west or to the coast – could ease pressure on the most touristy locations. But something more radical must happen if the National Park is to remain the place Wordsworth called ‘paradise’.