Fascinating historic pictures present the Lake District earlier than it grew to become a mass tourism hotspot
Covering 912 square miles (2,362 square kilometres), the Lake District is England’s largest national park – and its most popular, with over 19million visitors each year.
Though it’s been much-loved for generations.
In 1820, the famous poet William Wordsworth published ‘A Guide to the Lakes’ and once described his house in Grasmere as ‘the loveliest spot that man hath found’.
The region initially drew wealthy tourists, with the dawn of the railway – and the station by Windermere lake – helping to make it more accessible to those from a wider range of backgrounds.
Then the M6 in the late 1950s and 1960s accelerated the park towards mass-tourism-hotspot status.
These photographs take you back to a simpler, less crowded time… let us know in the comments which spot you love the most.
This image depicts hikers at Skelwith Falls near Ambleside around 1930. The Lake District National Park says: ‘From the late 18th century, the land was no longer seen just as a means for making a living through agriculture or industry. People began to recognise its beauty’
Women are pictured here in 1933 having fun at Grange Lido in Grange-over-Sands, right at the southern tip of the Lake District. The pool was built in 1932, but was closed in 1993
![Holidaymakers are pictured on one of the Grange Lido's water slides in 1933. The Save Grange Lido campaign explains that the 'Lido [has] remained closed and gradually decaying' since its closure, despite calls to restore it](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/28/06/92871785-14177137-Holidaymakers_are_pictured_on_one_of_the_Grange_pool_s_water_sli-a-9_1735367747796.jpg)
Holidaymakers are pictured on one of the Grange Lido’s water slides in 1933. The Save Grange Lido campaign explains that the ‘Lido [has] remained closed and gradually decaying’ since its closure, despite calls to restore it
LakeLovers.co.uk says that the expansion of the railway and the opening of Windermere station in the 1840s gave ‘many more people the opportunity to visit the region’. Above – people in Tilberthwaite, north of Coniston Water, in 1933
Three women on holiday in the Lake District in 1934. By this time, the Lake District’s ‘picturesque qualities’ had ‘inspired literature and art’ for decades. Prominent fans of the region included William Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter and John Ruskin
In this picture, men are photographed shearing longwool sheep at a remote farm in Bannisdale in 1939. Sheep farming remains important in the region today. Visit Cumbria notes: ‘Cumbria without sheep would not be Cumbria’
Three hikers are snapped while resting and dipping their feet in Blea Tarn lake in 1940. It’s still a popular scenic spot today and Visit Cumbria describes it as one of the ‘easiest’ places to visit in the Lake District
A group of youth hostel guests are captured walking in the Lake District in 1941. The Youth Hostels Association says hostels ‘gave young working people an unprecedented opportunity to spend leisure time in fresh air and open countryside, on a scale only previously possible for the wealthy’
This photograph, dating from 1948, features farmers gathering hay in Langdale. The original caption read: ‘On a clear autumn day, in a setting world-famous for its beauty, the last of the haymaking is carted away’
Fishermen are snapped ‘bringing in a fresh batch of perch’ from Windermere, England’s largest lake, in 1948. Perch was considered a pest and was removed from the lake to increase the numbers of trout and char
This image captures Bridge House, ‘possibly the most photographed building in the Lake District’, in 1950. Visit Cumbria explains that the house, in Ambleside, was a ‘popular subject for many artists including Turner’. Once an apple store, the house was built over the bridge to escape land tax. Nowadays it belongs to the National Trust
The Lake District National Park was formed in 1951 and became the second national park in the UK after the Peak District. These cyclists are photographed consulting their map next to Grasmere in 1953
A group of ramblers pose on stepping stones near Rydal village in 1957. The establishment of the area as a national park ‘sought to preserve its special qualities and limit threats to the landscape’, explains lakedistrict.gov.uk
Derwentwater, aka the ‘Queen of the Lakes’, in the winter of 1959. This lake is home to four islands and one of the area’s most beautiful views, from a rocky promontory called Friar’s Crag
Tourists in 1960 looking at Tarn Hows, a manmade beauty spot that is ‘now a favourite place for walkers of all ages and abilities’, according to Visit Lake District
A shop in Rosthwaite village in the 1960s. The Lake District National Park website explains: ‘Improvements in the roads, widespread car ownership and rising standards of living led to ever-increasing number of visitors from the 1960s’
