View across Lake Windermere from Waterhead
Where we were staying at Waterhead you had a great view of the Cumbrian Mountains the other side of the lake.
For those interested in the geology -
Windermere is the largest natural lake in England. It is a ribbon lake formed in a glacial trough after the retreat of ice at the start of the current interglacial period. Like many other ribbon lakes, it lies in a steep-sided pre-glacial river valley that has become deepened by successive glaciations. The current lake was formed after the Last Glacial Maximum during the retreat of the British and Irish Ice Sheet some time between 17,000 and 14,700 years ago. There were at least nine ice retreat phases, indicated by buried recessional moraines.
The lake is drained from its southernmost point by the River Leven. It is replenished by the rivers Brathay, Rothay, Trout Beck, Cunsey Beck and several other lesser streams.
There is only one town or village directly on the lakeshore, Bowness-on-Windermere, as the village of Windermere does not directly touch the lake and the centre of Ambleside is one mile (1.6 km) to the north of Waterhead.
View across Lake Windermere from Waterhead
Where we were staying at Waterhead you had a great view of the Cumbrian Mountains the other side of the lake.
For those interested in the geology -
Windermere is the largest natural lake in England. It is a ribbon lake formed in a glacial trough after the retreat of ice at the start of the current interglacial period. Like many other ribbon lakes, it lies in a steep-sided pre-glacial river valley that has become deepened by successive glaciations. The current lake was formed after the Last Glacial Maximum during the retreat of the British and Irish Ice Sheet some time between 17,000 and 14,700 years ago. There were at least nine ice retreat phases, indicated by buried recessional moraines.
The lake is drained from its southernmost point by the River Leven. It is replenished by the rivers Brathay, Rothay, Trout Beck, Cunsey Beck and several other lesser streams.
There is only one town or village directly on the lakeshore, Bowness-on-Windermere, as the village of Windermere does not directly touch the lake and the centre of Ambleside is one mile (1.6 km) to the north of Waterhead.