LAKE DISTRICT

Evening Post, Issue 86, 11 April 1936, Page 4

LAKE DISTRICT

ENGLISH BEAUTY SPOT

A TRAVELLER'S PRAISE

HISTORY RECOUNTED

A tribute to the beauty of the English- Lakes District was paid by Mr. Alan C. Browne. F.R.G.S., A.R.A.C, • i'a an address to members of the Optmists' Club on Thursday. Mr. Browne displayed a number of his phoWgraphs taken in the Lakes District and these helped to convey to his audience the charm of the country. Mr. Browne is in New Zealand collecting data for lectures on the Dominion. Mr. R. Hall presided and introduced Mr. Browne. Mr.' Browne said he had frequently been asked which was the more beautiful—England or New Zealand. It was impossible to answer that question because the two countries were so different. England was packed.with different types of beauty, of which the Lakes District was one. The English Lake District was something like a wheel in shape, the hub being the mountains from which the lakes and valleys radiated." The original inhabitants of the district had lived there about 3000 B.C. They were followed by tall, fair-haired people about- 1000 8.C., and: old Druid stones could be seen in parts of the district. There were also trenches on the hills, and these were of unknown antiquity. Later the Romans and then the Vikings came, to England and the whole of the Lakes District was closely associated with the latter. VIKING SETTLEMENTS. The Vikings came up the Derwent River and landed at Derwent Water, Keswick was believed to have originated as a Viking camp, arid it was a charming and interesting English town. It had one main street and many courtyards with bottle-neck entrances. When Border raiders entered the town they were enticed into the courtyards, the entrances were blocked, and the inhabitants opened fire from their windows. That part of the country abounded in Viking names.. Not far from Keswick there was the core of an extinct volcano and from the top of this one could look across Derwent Water to the home of Hugh Walpole, the author. Further round the lake there was a delightful little hamlet consisting of three farmhouses. That place had provided the material for one of Hugh Walpole's novels. Even the sheep in the Lakes District were individual, and it was believed they were descended from a breed brought over by the Vikings. Another interesting thing about Keswick was that the very first lead-pencils were made there. The material used was found in the valley of Borrowdale and had been used prior to 1600 as "raddle" for marking sheep. From 1600 onwards it had been used for writing. 'It'was still known by its' ancient name — wadd. .. i.-

I On the top of Great Gable, said Mr. Browne, there was the most beautiful memorial he had ever seen. It was a bronze plate fastened to the rock and on it was an inscription stating that the hilis thereL had been'acquired by the climbers of the district and presented to the nation as a perpetual memorial to those who fell in the Great War; '