The English Lakes: A History

by Ian Thompson

With more than 20 million visitors each year, the Lake District retains its fascination for people from all over Britain and abroad. Ian Thompson, who grew up in nearby Barrow-in-Furness and went fell-walking from an early age, is well-equipped to reveal the area's allure. He tells how it was the chance combination of a fascination with the Alps and the outbreak of the Napoleonic wars that provided the spark for a national obsession. And in brief elegant chapters he shows how Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey and De Quincey transformed the perception of the region from one of 'horrid mountains' to 'vales of peace'. Later the work of J. M. W. Turner, John Ruskin, Beatrix Potter, Arthur Ransome and Alfred Wainwright, the great populariser of fell-walking, all in their different ways contributed to making the region what it is today. Crammed with fascinating detail and illustrated with Thompson's own superb colour photography and more than 80 other colour illustrations, "The English Lakes" is sheer delight.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Travel, British Literature

352 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2010

Reviews

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent history of the Lake District which focuses on the manifold cultural responses to the area's unique landscape from the seventeenth century to today. In that sense it is very much a cultural history rather than a political or social one. There is little on the agrarian or industrial history of the area, but the author's remit is made very clear in his introduction - this is a study of changing responses to mountains and 'wilderness' from Defoe's 'horrid mountains' through the development of notions of the Picturesque to the origins of the National Trust and the National Park movement of the twentieth century. While not short of academic rigour, this is written in a warm and engaging style and features a great cast of characters - from 'Admiral' Crosthwaite, through Wordsworth, Coleridge, Ruskin, Canon Rawnsley and Arthur Ransome, to Alfred Wainwright. In fact, it's time to get my Wainwrights off the shelf and start planning some ascents for our next week in the Lakes!

[Rock Battye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books without number have been written about the English Lakes, and more than a few can be found on my bookshelves. But this book is not (just) a guide to the Lakes, nor is it (just) a history. Ian Thompson is a landscape architect and a photographer, but he is also a superb writer, with a style that draws you in, gently informs and educates you, setting out his own views and the conflicting arguments, and leaving you feeling sad, as you come to the last page, wishing very much that there had been more. Like the author, I too was born and brought up on 'The Rim', with a love of the Lakes from an early age, and I warmly recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in the many back-stories of this wonderful landscape.

[Suzie Grogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a terrific, general read on the history of the Lake District - not from any geological or long-term historical view but the 'Lake District' as an entity that has thrilled artists, poets,walkers, climbers and the holidaymaker in search of peace and quiet over the past three centuries. It covers the evolution of the area from a place that inspired awe and terror to the home of the sublime and the 'picturesque'and all the conflicting parties that must find a way of conserving, rather than just preserving the environment and economy that contribute to our sense of place. It is a book that values those who live there alongside those who return time after time through a feeling of real connection with the landscape.Wonderful.

[Ian Carmichael · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightful book. A cast of thousands with many stories to tell - from the well-known (Wordsworth) to the lesser-known (W G Collingwood) to the hapax legomena (Fenton Hort - famous as F J A Hort and collaborator with B F Westcott for the 1881 edition of the Greek New Testament). The book is well-supplied with great artwork, superb photographs and it provides a well-written modern history of every aspect of the Lakes.
Thoroughly recommended for anyone interested in cultural landscapes, art, poetry, scenery, conservation and tourism.

I might soon turn my attention to Collingwood's Lakes as a follow-up.

[Steve Chilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thompson's approach was strangely narrow, focussing on a small number of individuals to illustrate what is in fact a rich history that the Lake District has. Having said that it was an very good read. I particularly enjoyed reading about Pocklington and Crosthwaite, and the chapter on early rock climbing in the Lakes.

[Andrew Fairey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book about the history of the English Lake District through the stories of artists, poets, writers, and philosophers that have visited or lived here.

The book is very readable and informative, and the analysis of the significance of each these people to the history of the area, and the greater ramifications of the area and people in the developments of ideas about the natural world, is illuminating.

[Andrew M Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read, hard to find criticism with my bias as a lover of the district. A well rounded, concise, and researched book, which I can recommend to anyone with the vaguest interest in the subject matter.