Keswick Cycleway reopens

The cycleway between Keswick and Threlkeld is to reopen on December 5 2020...the trail will officially be reopened to the community on 5 December, on the fifth anniversary of Storm Desmond. Pictured the opened up tunnel part of the route..More info here.

Nuclear Dump under the Lakes moves step closer in 2020

10/11/2020 Keswick and Whitehaven Tory MP backs dump planning

The granite under parts of Eskdale and Wasdale may end up hosting the UK's proposed underground nuclear dump(estimated cost so far £4.3 billion). Meanwhile the guardians of the Lakes, the National Park Authority says it's inappropriate to object...Lakestay disagrees and says it is much better to keep the waste above ground where it can be monitored. But huge community 'bribes' may cloud Cumbrians' judgement and Copeland and Allerdale councils have said they want to 'take the money'.....Read more on this important issue...or see the video

Mist Below...

Dramatic inversion below Red Pike caught in superb picture by @adrianstrand

Child Labour in Cumbrian Mines

Life was cheap as coal was hewn under the Irish Sea..Learn more at our web site

The Real Bluebird

The Roman Fort on
the mountaintops

Truly magnificent setting for this Roman fort in the mountains...find out more at our Romans in Cumbria page.

Learn to Speak Cumbrian?

Find out what it means to be Gattered and the many other dialect Cumbrian words that hark back to the days when the Vikings were the main farmers in the Lakeland dales. Such words as Knock and knash, neb, mush and scran are just some of those explained on this Dialect Dictionary web site.

Foxhunting in the Lakes..

MPs brought an end to John Peel's sport in February 2005. Follow this link to find out more about the Lakeland hunting packs and to hear John Peel's song.

Cumbria boast...to be first carbon-neutral county in the UK ?

The trendy belief in the Humans Cause Climate change theory has reached the Lake District. The so called 'climate emergency' is upending many aspects of our lives, including orders to scrap gas fired central heating and petrol drven cars. the latest example of a quango following the trendy theory is Cumbria Action for Sustainability (https://cafs.org.uk/), a charity that has had a large Lottery grant aid. The organisation says it wants to make Cumbria the first carbon neutral county in the UK, and is recruiting many new posts to this end.

Lakestay says human caused climate change is a theory currently popular with many scientists. But there are a myriad of other factors causing climate change and it is useful to remember that in previous eons the planet had temperatures of 23 degrees celsius at the polar regions, yet life on earth thrived at these times. See background on the Holocene era. So perhaps the trendy Extinction Rebellion is a bit OTT !
And more from Scientific American.

Be Aware!The Right to Roam could be under Threat

We are all aware of those police check points stopping people visiting the Lakes to walk the fells, based on the theoretical risks of spreading Coronavirus.

But it has awakened concerns over wider plans by the Conservative government to make trespass a criminal offfence, thus making walkers unwittingly at risk of breaking the law.

The Ramblers Association is "deeply concerned by government proposals to change trespass rules, which have been subject to a Home Office consultation. The current proposals could result in an erosion of people’s rights to access the countryside, particularly in the context of the Conservative Party manifesto commitment to make intentional trespass a criminal offence. This needs an urgent rethink."
" A compelling case for changing trespass rules has not been made. Three quarters of police forces believe that their current powers in relation to unauthorised encampments are sufficient and proportionate, while 84% are opposed to the criminalisation of unauthorised encampments.
Walking in the countryside should not put you at risk of committing a crime. Criminalisation of trespass would put walkers and others at risk of committing an offence. People may have to leave a footpath to get past an obstruction or have sincerely held beliefs that they have a right of access.
The proposals threaten ‘wild’ camping and the right to protest. The lack of clarity within the current proposals risk criminalising other activity, including wild camping and people’s legitimate right to protest. Our current rights to access the outdoors have been built on the legitimate protest of previous generations.what circumstances it might be applied."
See also https://www.righttoroam.org.uk/

We at Lakestay have always said the ban on open air walking because of Covid19 was illogical.

Lakeland's Derelict Lido

A derelict Grade II listed coastal lido is to be refurbished and reopened to the public, but not as a swimming pool. Plans for Grange Lido in Cumbria to be turned into a "multi-use public space" have been agreed by South Lakeland District Council. Grange Town Council is also to support. The authority said it could be used for swimming in the future if a business case was made for a pool that could run without an ongoing public subsidy. The outdoor seaside salt-water bathing Lido opened in 1932 and was open and popular until closure in 1993. https://www.savegrangelido.co.uk/

Cumbria's Lord of the Runes

Was this Cumbrian find the inspiration for J R Tolkien's epic tales?

*Cumbria's own 'Brunel'
Keswick Convention...what's it all about?
Saving the Lakes from an Army of Conifers
A Tale to amuse Jonathan Swift?
How they took the first elephants to Australia!
The quiet shores of the Solway
St Bega's Walk
Find out about the inter-Irish 'Murphy Riots'
Ennerdale, the quiet valley
Lakeland Breweries
Lakeland Gardens
Cockermouth after the Floods

Cold War Cumbria

Find out some of the ways Cumbria was embroiled in the Cold War...Read on

Borrowdale's Caveman

The eccentric pioneering rock climber and Borrowdale caveman Millican Dalton...more .

Wasdale Shepherds Meet enjoyed late summer sun. Trail hounds race for the finish (Pic M.McKenzie) Meanwhile Cumbrian foxhunting packs wait to see if the new government rescind the Foxhunting Ban?

The Doomed Hamlets

This was the last sermon at the church before the reservoir flooded the valley. Read about another chapel lost forever.

Wildlife in your parish

Tullie House at Carlisle has this excellent web site which tells you which rare species live in every parish of Cumbria...
http://www.cbdc.org.uk

The Coniston postman always....