Dark Sky Discovery<\/a><\/p>\n
2. Coniston and Peel Island<\/h3>\n
![\"What](\"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/10\/a-peel-island.jpg\")
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Thought to be Arthur Ransome\u2019s inspiration for Wild Cat Isalnd, Peel Island on Coniston Water is a place you\u2019ll want to explore.
It was also used as a setting in the film adaptation of Ransome\u2019s \u2018Swallows and Amazons\u2019.
So, how about having your very own exploration in the Lake District?<\/p>\n
Perhaps hire a canoe from the Coniston Boating Centre, paddle across the lake and explore the island as well as Fir and Oak Islands.<\/p>\n
3. Glencoyne Bay<\/h3>\n
His poem \u2018daffoldils\u2019 is a literary great , but did you know that William Wordsworth was inspired o write his most famous poem after a visit to Glencoyne Park \u2013 now known as Wordswoth Point \u2013 In 1802.
When Willam and his wife, Dorothy, walked past the Bay in Ullswater on their way back to Grasmere, it is thought the scene before his eyes, gave him all he needed to write:
\u201cI wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o\u2019er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.\u201d
<\/i>![\"Glencoyne](\"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/10\/a-glencoyne.jpg\")
And it wasn\u2019t the onlone it of beauty of the n the Lake District, which made Wordsworth feel compelled to write.<\/p>\n
He also wrote three poems about Aira Force, the most well known being \u2018The Somnambulist\u2019 \u2013 an ancient tale of knightly love and death, of which the last verse seems to catch the spirit of Aira Force.
If you\u2019re visiting the Lake District in the spring, then another nice place to see a vast array of the daffodils associated with the great writer is a Dora\u2019s Field, beside his former home at Rydal Mount.
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4. The Smallest church in England (well, one of)<\/h3>\n
By the highest mountain in England, you\u2019ll find one of the smallest churches set in the Viking Fields of Wasdale \u2013 where Viking influence can be seen in the architecture with the roof beams thought to have come from Viking Ships.<\/p>\n
The little churchyard is also a resting place for many of the climbers who died on the surrounding fells. And, a stained glass window of Naples Needle and acts as a memorial to those of the Fell and Rock climbing club, who died in the First World War.<\/p>\n
4. Beatrix Potter\u2019s life and Lake District Legacy<\/h3>\n
She\u2019s one of the most well-known Authors to come out of the Lake District. You may know about her books, but do you know about her life, how the Lakes inspired her and her Lake District legacy.
So, why not follow in her footsteps and see the Lake District as Ms Potter did?<\/p>\n
Hill Top <\/strong><\/p>\n The popular choice is a stop-off at her 17th Century farmhouse, which she bought with the royalties earned from Peter Rabbit. Beatrix Potter Gallery <\/strong> Tarn Hows<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Wray Castle <\/strong> Ms Potter even won prizes for her Herdwick sheep and became president of the Herdwick Sheep Breeders Association. Walk around the countryside she loved and bought to protect it from development, including, Tarn Hows and Monk Coniston. There are many waterfalls in the Lake District, particularly spectacular after a heavy bout of rain. The beauty is that you don\u2019t have to hike to them all \u2013 an amble is all it takes. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n They\u2019re mysterious and steeped in history \u2013 back to the Neolithic times and there are several dotted across Cumbria. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Self-catering cottages in the Lake District<\/p>\n If you want to sample life in the Lake District, then we have the perfect Cumbrian Holiday Cottages across for your stay.<\/p>\n We have more than 450 homes, all of them VisitEngland inspected and graded. So, with your accommodation sorted, you\u2019re free to discover all that the Lake District has to offer.<\/p>\n
The Hill Top home, owned by the National Trust, is very much as Potter lived in it and look around the home with her books and see if you can spot the elements such as the grandfather clock and the staircase.
And, the garden is laid out just like Mr McGregor\u2019s garden, where Peter, Tom Kitten, Samuel Whiskers and Jemima Puddleduck all had fun.<\/p>\n
Then, there\u2019s the Beatrix Potter Gallery in Hawkshead where you\u2019ll discover many of her original sketches and watercolours from her beloved children\u2019s stories.
The gallery was formally William Heelis\u2019s solicitor\u2019s practice. William was Beatrix\u2019s husband and it\u2019s most likely that Beatrix and William met here after Beatrix had purchased Hill Top in 1905.<\/p>\n![\"What](\"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/10\/tarn-hows.jpg\")
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She also stayed at Wray Castle on a family holiday when she was 16 , where you\u2019ll find a full room dedicated to Ms Potter and her love of Lakeland life, including becoming a prominent member of the farming community.<\/p>\n
The Lake District was just a place that inspired her world famous little books, but also a place she fought fiercely for, with its conservation high on her agenda.<\/p>\n
Other places to visit include: Hawkshead, the village of Near Sawrey, where she lived for nearly 40 years.<\/p>\n5. Waterfalls<\/h3>\n
And, if you like a bit of photography, try out your skills.
Here are some of the best ones:![\"Things](\"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/10\/AIRA-force-400x565.jpg\")
Aira Force, Glenridding.
This is probably the most popular waterfall in the lakes and with a 70-feet fall, it\u2019s a spectacular one too.
It is reminiscent of a Victorian Park and there is history attached to the Howard family, who created an arboretum below the waterfall containing more than 200 conifers from across the world.
Others include:
Stanley Ghyll, Boot;
Lodore Falls, Keswick;
Stock Ghyll Force, Ambleside \u2013 where once there where 12 water mills were once driven by its power.<\/p>\n6. Stone Circles<\/h3>\n
Perhaps the mist famous is the CastleRigg Stone Circle, Keswick \u2013 it\u2019s almost one of the most atmospheric and picturesque sites with fabulous views Helvellyn.![\"What](\"https:\/\/www.lakelovers.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/10\/stone-circles.jpg\")
It\u2019s thought to be among the earliest British circles and has 38 large stones, raised in about 3000 BC.
Other stone circles, include:
Cockpit Stone Circle,
Swinside Stone Circle
Burnmoor Stone Circles<\/p>\n