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'I don't know any tract of land in which in so narrow a compass may be found an equal variety of sublime and beautiful features'. So said the poet William Wordsworth of the Lake District, an area as rich in cultural associations as it is in beautiful scenery. Hunter Davies, who has spent every summer in the Lakes for nearly half a century, takes the reader on an engaging, informative and affectionate tour of the lakes, fells, traditions, denizens and history of England's most popular tourist destination. From the first discovery of Lakeland as a tourist destination in the 18th century, to the tale of the Maid of Buttermere, the poet Coleridge's ascent of Scafell Pike in 1802, to such enduring local traditions as Cumberland wrestling and hound trailing, here are the lakes and tarns and towns and villages, literary and artistic folk and Cumbrian characters and a miscellaneous Lakeland A-Z in a living place, not a museum. Very well illustrated throughout, 324pp in paperback.