Northern England’s National Parks

There are fifteen national parks in the United Kingdom, ten of which are in England and four of these in the North (or five if the Peak District is counted as Northern).

At this stage most of our journeyings “Around-England” are in the northern counties so we’re going to limit ourselves chiefly to the four northern national parks for now. Emphasis so far has been on the Lake District, next will come the Yorkshire Dales, then Northumberland and the North York Moors.

The Web site addresses:

The Lake District National Park Authority

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority

The North York Moors National Park Authority

The Northumberland National Park Authority

Other national parks outside the north can be found through

The UK Association of National Parks. This site includes not only web links but also information on the parks’ use of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Also, don’t forget the AONBs, the Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty of which there are thirty-four in England, including seven in the North. More of these later.

Below is a collection of past blog posts. To see posts relating to specific locations please use the navigation bar under the header photo.

Derwentwater at the End of a Day

August 2, 2011

What a splendid evening to be able to stroll down by Derwentwater in the English Lake District. I didn’t have my Nikon kit with me tonight so this shot was taken with my pocket camera (Fujifilm Fuji Finepix F72EXR) during a walk down past Keswick’s “Theatre by the Lake” to Friar’s Crag, with a little [...]

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Coppermines at Coniston

July 20, 2011

For many centuries the presence of copper in the Lake District mountain rocks above Coniston Water provided a livelihood for people in the area. Looking at the area now it is not easy to imagine a time (much of it before modern-style industrialisation) in which people living in the shade of Coniston Old Man made [...]

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Ullswater and The Lady of the Lake

July 15, 2011

The Ulswater steamer, ‘The Lady of the Lake” is thought to be the oldest working passenger vessel in the world. She has lived all her long life on Ullswater, and was first launched here in 1877. I say “first launched” because the Lady has had a challenging life, having twice been sunk, firstly in 1881 [...]

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Lady Anne’s Way – Walking the Yorkshire Dales & Eden Valley

July 1, 2011

Recently I’ve made several references to castles in the Eden Valley, Cumbria, which were rebuilt or considerably restored by Lady Anne Clifford in the 17th century. There was a post about Brough Castle and also a quick photo upload of Brougham Castle by the River Eamont near Penrith. I’ve still to add others, especially Pendragon [...]

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Visiting the Lake District? Don’t miss Brockhole.

June 24, 2011

It was not a glorious, sunny day when we last visited Brockhole, the Lake District Visitor Centre. Rather it was the end of one of those weeks that give the Lake District lakes their water. Nevertheless we spent a most enjoyable two or three hours. Brockhole is not to be confused with “Brockholes”, the nature [...]

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Relocation North?

February 9, 2011

“Moving to the North?  Surely not!  Isn’t it all back-to-back houses and mill chimneys?”  Yes, that kind of conversation may be somewhat dated, but ignorance of the true character of the North of England is still a widespread disease south of Watford Gap. I was reminded of this a few days ago when I read [...]

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Roads and Trackways of The Yorkshire Dales

January 12, 2011

Last night, while scanning my shelves, I came across a book that I must have bought around twenty years ago, Roads and Trackways of The Yorkshire Dales, by Geoffrey N. Wright. I couldn’t recall reading it before so spent an hour or so, with everything except eyes under the duvet, reading the first few chapters. [...]

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Ullswater 55 years ago

December 17, 2010

Yesterday I mentioned an excellent Winter Breaks deal at the Leeming House, overlooking Ullswater. (Later note added: This was a time-limited offer in late-2010, but click here for up-to-date details of this very nice hotel). Today, though, I thought I’d put up a black and white photo of Ullswater from Purse Point – fifty-five years [...]

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A Lake District Winter Break by Ullswater

December 16, 2010

The header photo of this blog shows Ullswater in the summer time. I took it myself three or four years ago during an beautiful week with my wife on a campsite by the lakeside near Pooley Bridge.  January and February are not, of course, the months for camping holidays unless you’re really into toughing it, [...]

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Lake District Mountain Landscape, Alastair Lee

December 6, 2010

Today I’m turning my attention back to the English Lake District and a book published earlier this year that would make an excellent gift for anyone who loves this most beautiful corner of England. In “Lake District Mountain Landscape” Alastair Lee has produced a remarkable assembly of outstanding views of the Cumbrian fells and mountains. [...]

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