Ullswater, Lake District, England
From the first map you can see that Ullswater is one of the northern lakes.
The second map shows the lake in detail and a guide to the lake follows. At
seven miles long Ullswater is the second larges of the Lakes
- Patterdale
- An attractive tourist village with mountains all around. It is named after
St Patrick, who is said to have walked here after a shipwreck in AD540, and
is believed to have preached and baptised people here.
- St Patricks church was built in 1853, and has some stunning embroideries
by local embroideress Ann Macbeth
- It is often used as the base for climbing Helvellyn - 3118 feet high, and
the third highest of the Lakes peaks. It is a popular climb, suitable for
any experienced and properly kitted hiker. The walk from the Patterdale police
station to the summit of Helvellyn is three miles and along part of the way
follows the one mile long ridge of Striding Edge. The view from the top on
a summers day is breath taking as you can see not only the fells of the Lakes
but also the Pennines and the Scottish mountains
- Glenridding
- Glenridding grew originally as the houses for the workers in the nearby
lead mines. The lead mines closed in 1962, and the village now is a tourist
base.
- There is a path from the village to the old Greenside Lead Mines and on
to Helvellyn
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- Aira Force
- The waterfall is about 500 yards from the National Trust car park on the
road. The area has many footpaths and there are bridges (one above the falls,
the other below) across the gorge so that you can get a good view of the 70
foot falls.
- The path from the car park follows the beck up through the woods - a cosmopolitan
mix of oak, ash, willow, beech and a alder. Orchids can be seen in late spring
and early summer
- Follow the path above Aira Force and you come to another beautiful waterfall
- High Force
-
- Watermillock
- A scattered village along the north west shore of Ullswater.
- The church of All Saints, built in 1882, is just south of Cove. And
west of the church is Priest's Crag - which got the name from a 17th century
bishop who disliked the noise that hunters made in nieghbouring woods, so
he had all the trees in the area cut down, hence there are no trees there
today
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- Pooley Bridge
- At the north end of the lake, Pooley Bridge has a steamer pier. There are
guided walks from Eusemere Lodge car park. A mile or so north westis Barton
church, a big "minster" church that once served a wide area. It
has a fine Norman central tower
-
- Howtown
- A steamer pier, a mountain rescue post and a pub make up this hamlet at
the end of the lakeside road. There are good walks round the lke shore to
Patterdale and Glenridding
-
- Martindale
- The road climbs from Howtown to the wild and mountainous landscape of Martindale.
Two churches - the 1633 chuch (now restored) fell into disrepair, so they
built another in 1880. A very peaceful and beautiful spot
-
- Lake Steamers
- The Ullswater steamer service started in 1859, but was threatened with closure
in 1954. This led to a refurbishing of the Lady of the Lake
and the Raven.
- In the summer there is a daily service from Glenridding to Howtown and Pooley
Bridge
National Trust
The National Trust owns 12,782 acres of fell and woodland, as well as 6 farms
(of which Glencoyne is the largest). The Aira Force Waterfall is also
owned by the National Trust