heritage of borrowdale...
St Andrew's Church, Borrowdale
A white rendered church, containing the pulpit brought from Mardale Church before it was flooded by the waters of Haweswater reservoir in 1937. In the churchyard are the graves of Sarah Youdale (the ‘Queen of Borrowdale') and noted fell runner, Bob Graham.
Newlands Church, Little Town, Newlands Valley
A simple but perfectly proportioned church surrounded by trees a short distance from Little Town. A small school, attached to the church in 1887, provided tuition for local children for 80 years, closing in 1967.
Ashness Bridge, Near Watendlath
Despite being one of the most photographed viewpoints in the Lake District, Ashness Bridge is an excellent example of a packhorse bridge, it has one of the Lake District's most famous views looking north to Derwentwater. Ashness Bridge can be located by taking the narrow road to Watendlath, a left-turn off the B5289 beside Derwentwater, about three miles south of Keswick.
Did you know?..
The National Trust, an independent charity, cares for most of Borrowdale including high fells and valley floor and parts of Newlands - 11,000 hectares total. The first piece of NT land was Brandlehow Park on the edge of Derwent Water bought through public subscription to safe guard the landscape for everyone to enjoy. The NT undertake a great amount of conservation and access work looking after this very special area..
The Bowder Stone a huge boulder of some 1250 tons, is seemingly precariously balanced on one corner. At the bottom, if you dare to do so, it is just possible to shake hands with someone on the other side. It did not topple down from the mountain side like most visitors assume, for it is not a local rock. It was most likely carried here from Scotland by the glaciers of the Ice Age. It possibly gets its name from Balder, son of the Norse God Odin, but there are no legends attached to this boulder.
Millican Dalton was a 20th century eccentric, who gave up secure employment to become a hermit in Borrowdale. He lived in caves near Castle Crag and spent his days climbing the nearby crags, fishing on a home-made raft and teaching outdoor skills. He was known as the ‘Professor of Adventure' and died at the grand old age of 80 in 1947.
Seathwaite in Borrowdale holds the distinction of being the wettest inhabited place in England with a mean annual rainfall of over 3 metres (120 inches). The heaviest annual rainfall ever recorded in the UK was at Sprinkling Tarn in 1954 when over 6½ metres of rain fell over the course of the year!
‘Thwaite' is a common suffix of place names in Borrowdale. It is a Norse word for ‘clearing' - as in Rosthwaite (clearing with the heap of stones), Stonethwaite (clearing in stones) and Seathwaite (clearing among the sedges).
The Borrowdale Sop is a small cloud that develops at the head of Borrowdale near Styhead Tarn. Weather watchers monitor its movements to predict the weather. If it goes towards St John's in the Vale, the weather will continue to be fair; but if it heads towards Langdale, rain will follow within a day.
Slates from Honister grace the roofs of Buckingham Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and the Ritz Hotel in London.
Alfred Wainwright, the celebrated writer of fell-walking guides, regarded the square mile of Lakeland centred on King's How (NY 258 166) as the most beautiful in England.
