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.

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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Yorkshire Dales Update – 2010:02

January 26, 2010

Image by freefotouk via Flickr Today I have a Yorkshire Dales miscellany gathered from around the blogosphere, items that have caught my attention and that I hope will interest you. They cover quite a wide range of topics, from archaeology and photography to the re-establishment of an ancient job. It would be nice also if [...]

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Grasmere Church, etching by David Law (1831-1902)

January 21, 2010

The picture below of St. Oswald’s Church, Grasmere, is new to me today. This morning I was looking around one of the sites that I sometimes promote as a source of wall posters when I spotted a set of etchings that I’d never previously noticed. Grasmere Church, etching by David Law David Law (1831-1902) was [...]

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Camping and Paddling at Coniston

January 20, 2010

Image via Wikipedia I was about to write another blog article about Coniston Water, but was browsing through some recent entries on other people’s blogs when I came cross a marvellous description of a weekend on the water from travel writer and photographer Lucinda Manouch. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to put [...]

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