Post series The Lake District (England)

The English “Lake District” is a very picturesque, mountainous region in the north-west of the country, which has been a national park since May 1951. Its beauty draws many thousands of visitors every year, including regular tourists, hikers, artists and photographers. The region has become a favourite place since I began visiting during the mid-1990s, when I began learning how to take landscape photographs amongst the high peaks and myriad lakes.

  • The third of our slightly soggy hikes in the English Lake District in autumn 2022.

  • Selected images for the 2023 calendar I made for my aunt.

  • A trip to England, a lack of autumn feeling despite the vivid colours and learning how to set a fire.

  • Buttermere in heavy rain

    A wind-swept, soggy, lovely walk around Buttermere in the English Lake District.

  • Visiting the former home of John Ruskin, near Coniston.

  • An autumn ramble from our holiday rental to the top of the nearby Wainwright Fell above Keswick.

  • Warnscale Bothy

    Of all the walks Jo and I have undertaken, the path to Haystacks in the English Lake District seems to be the most prone to failure. The attempt we made in 2020 was no exception, although a sudden change in the weather led us to an alternative success.

  • 2019 was my second year with a drone, and I continued to experiment with the possibilities and travel to places with the specific aim of photographing them from the air.

  • Oh, did I forget to mention? Jo and I walked up the biggest mountain in England in 2017.

  • We spent the Christmas and New Year period travelling to Scotland and back by road again.

  • My England

    My England is green and pleasant. In my mind’s eye, the countryside is green and rolling, with occasional villages surrounding leafy, oaked cricket pitches or busy duck ponds. The lanes of my youth lead past scattering pheasants and floral hedgerows which echo the sound of a slightly ropey semi-classic British sports car. Towns are timbered and…

  • Ullswater, Cumbria

    Ullswater, at last

    Perfect photographic conditions on the shores of Ullswater in the Cumbrian Lake District last week.

  • The long, long progression from being a teenager with a stitch to being a forty-something with a passion for walking.

  • “Life of a Mountain: Blencathra” trailer

    I enjoyed Terry Abraham’s earlier film “Life of a Mountain: Scafell Pike” a great deal, so when I saw that Terry was making a new film featuring Blencathra, I jumped at the chance to contribute through a Kickstarter campaign. I can’t wait to get my copy of the film later this year and this trailer, recently completed, shows why.

  • Terry Abraham’s wonderful outdoor films

    Terry’s videos make me want to turn off my computer and head for the British hills immediately: whether to a well-known place like the Lake District or to places which will be new to me.

  • Helvellyn with Mark Richards

    Helvellyn – the third highest peak in the English Lake District and therefore the third highest in England – has long been a goal of mine. The peak draws me much more than the higher Scafells, with a famous ascent via the rocky and precipitous Striding Edge and what must be a breath-taking view from the…

  • A terrific hike and a personal achievement in the central-western Lake District on our anniversary.

  • Todd Crag

    A shorter hike up one of the Lakeland fells, at Ambleside.

  • I don’t usually bother celebrating my birthday in any great fashion, but as I turned forty this year, I decided to make an exception and plan a short break away with Jo, so that I could look back on the arrival of mid-life with some fondness. After some to-ing and fro-ing on a destination, I…

  • Coniston Water

    In all the times I’ve visited the Cumbrian Lake District in the north of England, I’d only ever been to Coniston Water once before. After all of the dramatic, deep lakes lined with craggy fells and forests, the long, flat, placid body of water didn’t inspire me photographically and so I quickly passed on. However,…

  • It had long been a goal of Jo’s and mine to extend our walking and “bag” one of the Lakeland fells. However, we hadn’t anticipated doing so in quite such a challenging way.