The local inhabitants made a living from farming, fishing, some mining, spinning yarn and weaving cloth. The area was known for the production of a rough-spun, undyed cloth known as ‘Skiddaw Grey', woven from the fleeces of Herdwick sheep. Over time the processes of cloth production were mechanised in mills - the main one being at Millbeck on the flanks of Skiddaw, where an industrial woollen mill produced large quantities of caps, blankets and flannels for export to slave plantations in the Americas.

 

 ''The local inhabitants made a living from farming, fishing, some mining, spinning yarn and weaving cloth''

 

Nearby Mirehouse has been owned by the Spedding family since 1802. During the early 19th century, the house became a literary centre for notable poets and writers of the age, including William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey and Thomas Carlyle. Alfred Tennyson stayed here in 1835 and composed the lines on Excalibur for Morte d'Arthur whilst sitting on the lakeshore.

 

The arrival of the railway between Penrith and Cockermouth in 1864 heralded the growth of tourism to the area. Victorians came in their droves to admire the wild scenery around Keswick and Bassenthwaite, which had been poetically described by Wordsworth and the other Lake Poets. It was during this era that many hotels and guesthouses were built to accommodate the new visitors.

In the late 1990s it was noticed that the water quality of the lake was deteriorating as a result of soil.erosion and pollution by phosphates. The Bassenthwaite Lake Restoration Programme was set up to address the problem and works with the local community through its Bassenthwaite Reflections scheme, launched in 2007. The aim is to help protect the lake's vulnerable ecosystem through a number of projects. They range from creating a new wetland reserve and improving native woodlands to archaeological surveys and events that celebrate the area's rich cultural and natural landscape. To take part, visit www.bassenthwaite-reflections.co.uk.