Enchanted little isle - a photo on Flickriver

            One of the islands in Windermere with Fairfield Horseshoe veiled in clouds in the background, Lake District, Cumbria

Some background information:

Windermere is the largest natural lake in England. It’s situated in the county of Cumbria and entirely within the Lake District National Park. Windermere is a ribbon lake, which means that it’s long, narrow and finger-like. It was formed 13,000 years ago during the last major ice age by two glaciers, one from the Troutbeck valley and the other from the Fairfield Horseshoe.

The lake is drained from its southernmost point by the River Leven. It is replenished by the rivers Brathay, Rothay, Trout Beck, Cunsey Beck and several other lesser streams. The lake is largely surrounded by foothills of the Lake District which provide pleasant low-level walks. To the north and north-east are the higher fells of central Lakeland.

Windermere has an overall length of about 18 km and an overall width of about 1 1/2 km. The maximum water depth is ca. 67 m. There are two towns on the lake, Ambleside and Bowness-on-Windermere. The town of Windermere does not directly touch the lake. Windermere contains 18 islands. By far the largest, Belle Isle, is privately owned.

Fairfield Horseshoe is a famous mountain ridge nearby the town of Ambleside in close proximity to Windermere. It takes in all the fells that surround the valley of the Rydal Beck. The highest peaks, which are included, are the ones of Dove Crag (792 metres), Hart Crag (822 metres) and Fairfield (873 metres).

The walking tour of Fairfield Horseshoe is extremely popular among hikers, but care should be taken on the summit of Fairfield in poor visibility as the plateau of that mountain is very flat and can be quite confusing with the danger of steep drops to the north and west. The eastern side of Fairfield Horseshoe from Low Sweden Bridge near Ambleside to the slopes of Hart Crag follows a high dry stone wall for six kilometres, making navigation simple even in poor weather conditions.

There’s a Fairfield Horseshoe Fell Race, which takes place annually in May. It was first organised by the Lake District Mountain Trial Association in 1966 and is over 14 kilometres long with more than 900 metres of ascent.

Taken in: United Kingdom / England / Windermere (show map)

Taken on: August 27, 2011

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2011

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Sets appears in: • England 2011 • Landscapes - Great Britain more » • Lakes • Summer « less

Groups appears in: • England • The Lake District UK more » • Cumbria, England • NorthWest England • UK Landscapes, Sea and Country. • The British Countryside • Great Britain • Pictures Of England • Images Of England • Project Weather • (A) MOUNTAIN VISTA • A BEAUTIFUL WORLD . « less

Camera: Canon PowerShot SX20 IS, f/4.5, 1/640 sec, 23mm, ISO 80 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon PowerShot SX20 IS
Lens:	5.0-100.0 mm
Aperture:	f/4.5
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/640)
Focal Length:	23mm
ISO:	80
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)
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