The Lake District – A Landscape to Inspire

With tales of opium eaters, nocturnal climbing escapades, finger numbing rockface descents, ghostly encounters, and journeys into madness, elation and disappointment, a day spent in the company of the author Grevel Lindop, listening to a jaunt through a history of “The ‘Other’ Lakeland Writers”, did not disappoint. It must be said here that our host, Grevel, is somewhat revered in Cumbrian Blue Badge circles as the creator of ‘A Literary Guide to the Lake District’, a publication which I would think appears on many BBG’s bookshelves, I know my copy is certainly well thumbed and he certainly knows his subject!

So, it was on an early January morning that a group of Cumbrian Blue Badge guides braved the remains of the previous days snowfall to travel to Rydal Hall, previous home to the (Le) Flemming family, who were once landlords to William Wordsworth, and currently in the ownership of the Diocese of Carlisle, who not only host a set of interesting retreats but offer a cafe and wonderful, Thomas Mawson designed, garden (complete with hidden delights) for quiet exploration.

Given the estates previous tenants it seemed a fitting location for a day carefully crafted to avoid discussion of the ‘big three’… Wordsworth, Ruskin and Potter, Cumbria’s literary giants, and explore a journey of ‘connections and consequences’, that has drawn writers of less renown, but not necessarily talent, to the Lake District, an area that has fuelled the imagination of poets, writers, and painters for centuries, and continues to do so.

It was interesting to think about the question of ‘why’ a person comes to a place, whether it be a stopover on the way to another destination, a long weekend, a family holiday or perhaps a life-changing decision to move. The Lake District is not somewhere you just happen upon, it is most often a deliberate decision, with some carefully laid travel plans, that allows people arrive on our doorstep, and it is for this reason that one of the most important questions we can ask as a Blue Badge Tourist Guide is ‘what is the reason for the visit’?

The talk highlighted all sorts of connections that brought people to the area. Many came because friends or family had told them of the positives of a life in deeper connection with nature. Others who were born here and had moved away, returned home to fall deeper in love and be inspired by a landscape and life they hadn’t at first appreciated. Unsurprisingly there were quite a few who were hunting for an adrenaline rush, the area was seen as ‘most barren and frightful’ and it was this ‘wildness’ that stirred their soul to create. Then, surprisingly, for me any way, there were people that, even in times past, who wanted to escape the busyness of their lives and came to the Lake District to heal, to immerse themselves in the green spaces and find a sanctuary for the mind and body which would allow them space to find and express inspiration.

We still hear many of the same reasons today when we ask that all important question, ‘why’? And whatever your reason, be it general interest, maybe you want to see all 16 of our beautiful Lakes, or something specific, searching for some family history or looking for a great place to spend a special birthday, we can help. To find out more about our group Cumbria Tourist Guides you can click here or to meet our guides here. Let us help plan your trip to Cumbria & the Lake District, and you can make your own connections whilst we tell you the stories of others who have been before.