Ullswater
Ullswater is the second largest lake in the English Lake District, a ribbon of water extending nearly 12 kilometres through one of the most varied and dramatic lake landscapes in Cumbria. Unlike the more open, western lakes of the district, Ullswater is enclosed by substantial fells on all sides, its three angled reaches creating a sequence of views that change character as the lake bends, each turn revealing a new arrangement of wooded shoreline, open hillside and mountain skyline that has been drawing artists and tourists to the lake since the eighteenth century. The western shore of the lake between Glenridding and Aira Force is the most celebrated section, carrying the traditional tourist route with views across the water toward the eastern fells of Hallin Fell and Place Fell. Aira Force itself, a spectacular waterfall in a wooded gorge managed by the National Trust, draws large numbers of visitors independently of the lake and the combination of the falls, the adjacent woodland and the shoreline walks makes this section of the lake one of the most rewarding in the district. William Wordsworth's encounter with the daffodils on the shore of Ullswater near Gowbarrow Park in 1802, shared with his sister Dorothy whose journal account provided the material for the poem, produced one of the most celebrated lyric poems in the English language. The daffodil colonies on the western shore are still visible in spring and the association with the poem gives a literary dimension to the lakeside walking that the poem's enduring familiarity has made peculiarly powerful. The Ullswater Steamers have operated on the lake since 1859, providing scheduled passenger services between Pooley Bridge at the northern end and Glenridding at the south. The vessels, some of which date from the Victorian and Edwardian periods and have been carefully maintained, provide a relaxing way to experience the changing character of the lake and connect the main walking routes along the shoreline. The fell walking above the lake, particularly the circuit of Helvellyn from Glenridding, represents some of the finest high mountain walking in England.