Lost in the Lakes: Notes from a 379-Mile Walk in the Lake District

by Tom Chesshyre

Join travel writer Tom Chesshyre for a lakeland adventure like no other. Explore towering mountains, wide-open valleys and magnificent lakes - stopping off at a cosy inn or two along the way - on a 379-mile hike around the Lake District

From Penrith to Ullswater, via Keswick, Cockermouth, Coniston, Grasmere and Windermere, plus many places in between, Tom Chesshyre puts on his walking boots and sets forth along the trails, drawn onwards by the dramatic scenery that attracts more than 19 million visitors each year.

Across landscape that so inspired the Romantic poets, he takes in remote parts of the parkland that many tourists miss - enjoying encounters aplenty with farmers, fell runners and fellow hikers, while staying in shepherds' huts, bothies and old climbers' hotels along the way, and even going for a (chilly) dip in Derwentwater.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Walking

320 pages, Hardcover

Published April 13, 2023

About the author

Tom Chesshyre has been writing travel stories for UK national newspapers for over15 years. After reading politics at Bristol University and completing a journalism diploma from City University, he had stints at the Cambridge Evening News, Sporting Life and Sky Sports. During this period he won the Independent's young sports writer of the year competition and was runner-up in the Financial Times young business writer awards. His first travel piece was about England's cricket fans in Barbados for the Daily Telegraph. He freelanced for the Daily and Sunday Telegraphs, wrote a column for Conde Nast Traveller, and contributed to the Express, the Guardian, and the Independent, before working on the travel desk of the Times. He has assisted with the research on two books - W. G. by Robert Low, a biography of W. G. Grace, and Carlos: Portrait of a Terrorist by Colin Smith, a biography of "Carlos the Jackal". He has written magazine pieces for Wanderlust, Geographical and Business Traveller - and contributes book reviews to the TLS. His travel writing has taken him to more than 75 countries. He lives in south-west London and was born in 1971.

His first book, How Low Can You Go: Round Europe for 1p Each Way (Plus Tax) was published by Hodder in 2007. To Hull and Back: On Holiday in Unsung Britain was published by Summersdale in July 2010, followed by Tales from the Fast Trains: Europe at 186 mph is published in July 2011.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book as we follow the author around the lake District as he does his walk. the travelogue as he walks and takes in talks with other walkers and gives a cultural history of the lakes too.

[Redfox5 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Won this is a competition from Love Reading.

Having always been a bit snobbish about UK holidays, as growing up we went on a £9 holiday with the Sun newspaper to Dungeness (lovely views of the Nuclear Power Station) and to Cornwall (It rained and a body washed up on the beach), I finally went on one as an adult to the Peak District. This has restored my faith in a good UK holiday and naturally I've been thinking a lot about the other District.

"Take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die" - Taylor Swift/The Lakes.

Somewhat enjoyed this journey around the lakes. I felt that whilst Tom gave a really good sense of the people he met around the lakes, didn't get much of a sense of the lakes themselves. Still maybe their beauty is something you can only see with your own eyes and not read about. Still a decent read.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a joy to read

As with the previous book read by this author he writes with gusto and involves the reader in all he does…this time on a walking tour of the beautiful Lake District

I have a basic knowledge of the area as we visited fairly frequently whilst living ‘Up North’ and have been once as an adult but have to admit to sticking to the main tourist areas and so this book was a real eye opener,whilst still going to the main areas we also visited many ‘off grid’ areas that had never heard of

It was fascinating,loved the scenery descriptions of course but equally loved the info on the food,the locals,the history,the hotels and other places stayed and the overall atmosphere created by the author,I felt I was there albeit without any walking boots or Kendal mint cake

It was interesting local,UK and European politics and issues were discussed and mused over

I really really love this authors ability to transport me somewhere and go on a journey with him,in a relaxed way,and often on a journey I would never experience..

A great book filled with antidotes,determination,humour and knowledge

[Robert Forster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really enjoyable sections but I think that is down to my love for the Lakes rather than the book itself. Some interesting stories from the people the author met along the way, others not so. Wasn't a huge fan of the authors style nor the constant references to the war in Ukraine; I understand there was a personal attachment due to the authors wife but felt unessessary in a travel book about the Lakes.

[Pete Mullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing…I love the Lakes, but this book just seemed to make them a bit, well, boring. It’s more a collection of random encounters and weirdly dull descriptions of the fabulous landscapes he was walking through. The Afterword was more interesting than the book!

[Ms6282 Slater · Rating 3 out of 5]

A disappointing read. I found it very superficial as he dashed round the Lake District. I should have expected that as as I felt the same about his book about walking the Thames path.
I spotted several factual errors - Arthur Ransome married Tolstoy’s secretanry when Ransome went to Russia to report on the 1917 revolutions? Tolstoy died in 1910. It was Trotsky’s secretary! Sloppy research.
For a walking tour of the Lakes Alan Hankinson’s “Coleridge walks the fell”, which is briefly mentioned, is far superior

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book from Meg, it can be read as an account of the authors trip through the lakes- which makes for a detailed and enjoyable read- it also splits up the terrain making it easy to pick out certain chapters ahead of day trips and mentions a few hidden gems and routes id not heard of!

[Claire O'Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took my ages to read this book . I absolutely loved it and wanted to savour every moment . Absolutely recommended 😊

[Mark Forrester · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading this travel book. I've been going on trips to the Lake District since my student days in the 1980s, and love the place for so many reasons. Every time I opened Tom Chesshyre's book felt like I was back in that special place. His route takes you all round the Lake District, and his experiences of places, people and his adventures are beautifully recorded.

[Daniel Hitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was alright. Mainly a recount of the numerous conversations he had on the walking trip, and a commentary of local and global issues at the time of writing (ie Ukraine). Perhaps less detail than I’d like on the landscapes and routes themselves, and hardly any personal opinions or evaluations.

[Steve Chilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chesshyre describes a long ramble that connects up the many water bodies in the Lakes, but avoids many of the honeypot places, fairly soon after Covid and Brexit. There is no deep thinking or message, just a record of encounters made and pubs and locations visited. He does have a bit to say about Wordsworth and his fear for tourism's effects, and the lot of farmers and locals that he comes across.

[Andrew Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, but the world is overrun with guide books abput the lake district. At times it read like a pub crawl, beer is of course a massive part of walking. At times it was an informative travelogue. all the people who he spoke to say the same things, too many holiday homes, not enough people to work there and hardly anyone who is born there can afford to live in the lakes. The author had an annoying way of seemingly poking fun at some the locals, mainly people who he met in passing. If you are interested in the lake district read it but if you aren't get another one of the millions that already exist. Netgalley arc.

[Theediscerning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Letting me return to the company of a travel writer much under-represented on my reading list, this is a book about the Lake District – thankfully – and not necessarily the man. Yes, I find a lot of books about hikes where the author imposes her/him-self too much on proceedings, telling us how wonderfully they romped here, how drizzly the weather was there, and what they saw with their flawless bird-spotting eyes. You don't know the fluminous-striped throstle-crow, you live in Croydon.

This takes us suitably from place to place, on an ad-hoc 370-mile loop of the lakes. We get what it was like to try and hike this hill, and some of the distances, but this is about the experience when you let a place reveal something of its heart – something arguably so few people do in the Lakes. Our author chats to all the people he can – just the first couple of days alone he pops by so many eateries you fear for him ever managing to get to his digs for the night – and looks at what is making them tick.

Here it is a lack of staff in the service industries, and Ukraine. And while the latter is about to become the latest subject it's not that interesting to read years-old reportage on, it will never beat covid for that. You do rankle at Ukraine being called "south-east Europe", mind, when it's not exactly bordering Greece. But closer to home, this is wonderful stuff. This is a Lake District as lived, and not as seen on a day hike – there are trips to extinct quarries with their exhibitions of the industrial plant of the region, there are encounters with people decommissioning Sellafield. The place is idyll upon idyll but all the schools are closing down, and every shut shop justifies a lost bus route.

The flip side to that is that these pages are so winsome – the best beer garden in the county, the bluest fake nails on a barmaid, and so on – that (besides a bizarre liking for Bob Marley) this place could be inundated by Chesshyre fans. OK, Wordsworth and everyone and their dog since have written one of the 50,000 books about the Lakes and you can still find yourself alone, but I will not be alone in wanting to follow the list of hostelries mentioned as one 370-mile long pub crawl. (Good news, then, that the three star restaurant he can't lunch at in April has availability for every slot this July fortnight as I write, bar none.) Whether this engages with the Insta crowd and the inappropriately-dressed selfie takers remains to be seen. But while the author is not pretending to have surpassed recognisable logic with his mileage, and not claiming to have recognised the three-throated chiff-warbler by sound alone, this really is my kind of Lakes travel book.

But, seeing as here he totes Coke Zero and elsewhere online says he remembered the wine, just how did he lubricate his night in the bothy? We need answers!

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best travel writing is about people as much as places, and the best way to meet the people who inhabit or visit a place is on foot. Tom Chesshyre’s 379-mile hike through the English Lake District proves the point admirably: ‘I wanted the random to rule in Lost in the Lakes. Travel writing should be like that: hit the trail and see what turns up. Only the journey reveals what the story will tell’. Starting and finishing in Penrith, just outside the Lake District National Park, his route takes him to all corners of the Lakes, across several fells, to many pubs, youth hostels, B&Bs and a mountain bothy; but most importantly it brings meetings with many fascinating people: locals and visitors alike, all of whom have stories and experiences to share. A recurring theme is one that isn’t new, but which seems to have become more pressing since the Covid pandemic: by protecting the landscape, thereby making it more desirable for both tourists and second-home owners, the national park is in danger of atrophy as locals are squeezed out and the hospitality sector that is one of the area’s biggest employers cannot recruit staff because they can no longer afford to live locally. If it becomes just a playground for visitors, with no local character, what is the point of preserving it? Wordsworth expressed similar concerns at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and the paradox of popularity has been a concern ever since, but it’s particularly powerful to hear it from the people who are most affected.

[Christopher Day · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this but it was mediocre. Repetitive and pedestrian throughout (pun intended).

He talks about Wordsworth far, far more than you'd expect for a general travel book about the Lakes, even though he doesn't seem a particular authority. He should have cut down on the Wordsworth, or upped it and made it a travel book with a focus on the poet.

There's a potentially interesting range of characters, but they all seem to say exactly the same things, and they're things that I suspect any person reading this book would know about already (the impact of second homes and over-tourism, the difficulty attracting people to hospitality jobs).

The author also regularly spends time talking about his wife's attempt to help a couple of Ukrainians who are trying to get out of the country after Putin's invasion. Laudable, but why is it in here? It dates the book and fails to provide any real insights into anything. Mentioning this once in a single chapter would have had the same effect as the repeated digressions into something happening elsewhere, with which the author has only a second-hand connection.

[Hande · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a nice book. A pleasant read for anyone who just visited or will visit the Lake District. I liked the easy language and the genuineness of the author: just visiting the Lake District on a long hike during one month, letting the voices of those he meets be heard in the book, and give an accessible picture of the Lake District. This is not a fancy, detailed nor a technical guide to the Lake District. Obviously not as the description itself reads: travelogue. And that’s what it is. A nice and easy one which can truly take you (back) to the Lake District which is what I wanted. You also gain quite a lot of information of the region itself: some history, culture, and fun facts. I loved learning more of the region.

I would really love to visit all the places that Tom went to and do his hikes as well. My own trip to the region was too short, and severely impacted by my hernia which decided to block my back painfully.

Although I did hike up to the Dodd Summit which was great!

Up to more hikes in the Lake District.

[Hannah Symonds · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't wait to get started on this read, I have been to the Lake District many times now and I am always blown away with the beauty of the place. Tom takes us on a journey to The Lake District and shows us all the beautiful and magnificent hikes you can do. The map at the front of the book makes it easy to see where he is and where he is going and the chapters are broken down into the different places he visits. If you have never been to The Lake District take a look at the pictures Tom has taken to share with his readers, you will literally want to step into the book and be transported there. It was an easy going and comforting read to one of my favourite places in the world. I feel as though I have more knowledge now about the different places that I didn't know and have also added a few places to my list for when we go back. Thank you Tom for writing a great guide to The Lake District.

[Damien Horsfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ignore the ‘blurb’ on the back of this book.
“Exploring towering mountains, wide-open valleys and magnificent lakes”… yes he does but you don’t read much about them. Considering the authors hike was 379 miles long, you don’t get much information about the hike itself, maybe the odd paragraph or two.

More about the history of Wordsworth who he mentions repetitively around 100 times in each chapter, the war in Ukraine, and how tourism and holiday-homes are killing the Lakes. Everything is repeated throughout.

As a lover of the Lake District, who is currently almost half way through completing the Wainwrights challenge, I was expecting so much more from this book about the actual hike itself and I’m highly disappointed about it.

One thing I did like, is the acknowledgement given to the locals, pubs etc especially when I have visited a lot of the pubs myself after a big hike.

[Angela DT · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lost in the Lakes by Tom Chesshyre

From Penrith to Ullswater, via Keswick, Cockermouth, Coniston, Grasmere and Windermere, plus many places in between, Tom Chesshyre puts on his walking boots and sets forth along the trails, drawn onwards by the dramatic scenery that attracts more than 19 million visitors each year.
As someone who calls the Lake District home , I always enjoy a new book that gives me an insight from other people's perspective of this lovely place.
I like the author have ( probably ) hiked 379 miles ( although in my case over many years ) and it was great to read about the places I have also enjoyed. A great and amusing book.





379

[Rae Gee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one for anyone who loves the Lake District. Tom spends his time wandering to places that those who visit briefly will never visit, talking to the locals and getting into their heads. Along the way, he hears the woes of those who call the Lake District home: buy to let houses, second homes, underpaid jobs, locals moving out, and those who do work there commuting unimaginable distances because house prices are too high. Along the way he documents the beauty of the landscape that so many people have come to love. Part deep dive into the small towns and villages that make up the area, part travel book, and part finding those little places that many of us have yet to see.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely gentle, slow paced meander around the peaks, lakes and valleys of the Lake District - an impressive 379 miles of them.
The author is a professional travel writer and this is his story of walking around the Lake District.
It tells of the people he meets along the way .
Loved that he had a plan and stick to it - all his accommodation was pre-booked and he arrived everywhere he planned on foot.
Also loved that he ranked the pub sandwiches.
Fall in love again with the awesome, amazing Lake District.
Thanks @tomchesshyre, @summersdalebooks & @netgalley for the eARC

[Sheena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am sitting writing this review whilst in the Lake District on holiday. It was uncanny as somewhere we had visited or something we had talked about was mentioned in the very next chapter I read even down to 'Withnail & I' so that was great fun. Sadly I didn't care for the author's style. He was too pedantic for my taste making it a little dull and boring. The book is also frozen in time with the references to the beginning of the Ukraine war and initial surge of support from the British public flying flags, raising money and helping refugees which somehow feels so long ago now.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! An easy read and a great read if you love the Lakes and are familiar with the area. As a regular visitor to The Lakes I really enjoyed imagining all the places he described so well and his interactions with a variety of people added an extra layer.

I admired how he says he wasn’t wanting to write a ‘look how wonderful the lakes are’ book but more so to give a voice to the ordinary people from the area. This was done well.

I’ve been inspired to do a similar trip one day soon.

[Jack Hatcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Largely focussing on the people of the Lake District and the issues impacting the area (mass tourism, second homes, water quality…)

A very enjoyable read, my favourite part of travelling is the array of characters I meet along the way so this book was perfect for me.

Slightly repetitive in parts when mentioning topical issues of the time (covid, Ukraine, Brexit etc) but then again these were and still are big concerns for people in the Lakes and around the country so it’s faithfully done.

[Paul Carter]

An excellent read. Having walked many of the routes the author took it made it easy to follow the trail but with a completely different angle. He wasn't doggedly following the Wainright's but they did get to him and as he was not trying to 'bag' them it made an interesting read following his ad hoc 'planned' route. I would say anyone reading this book would get itchy feet to at least visit the Lakes.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wondered if I was going to enjoy this book as it had a weak opening and seemed rather derivative. However, the personality of the author and the open hearted account of his encounters with the residents of this fascinating area made me warm to him and feel like I was actually tramping alongside him through the villages and fells.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book - the writing is clear & easy to follow. I have been walking in the Lakes for 30 years & I found the Wordsworth, Ruskin & Wainwright information so interesting. I liked the way he chatted to locals & tourists and included their varied views on the Lakes - the changes that have taken place & the influence of Brexit/Covid.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lovely book of an interesting tramp around the Lakes, my favourite place in the world. Filled with great conversation and history. However, I was (wrongly) hoping for more focus on the hills themselves and the beauty of the area, and so felt it lacking in this regard. Nice book nonetheless but became mildly repetitive towards the end.

[Harry Cobbett · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

A nice look at different spots in the lakes. Definitely makes me want to go back soon. Less wit than most travel writers. Also felt bit repetitive by tje end - only so much many inns to drink in and hills to climb before you're looking longingly at the bookcase for your next read.

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good travelogue is the one that makes me open a map and check if I could visit those places and walk on those path.
This is a good one and I learned a lot in for organising
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine a future travel.