Exploring Lake District Dales
A guide to their landscape, history, culture and nature
Published on 5. June 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-1-84486-712-7 (ISBN)
Description
SHORTLISTED FOR LAKELAND BOOK OF THE YEAR 2026
Explore the beauty of the Lake District dales with this enchanting and absorbing guide.
Crisp and sharp, fascinating throughout, [this book] is an outstanding journey through the Lake District. - Bill Birkett, Author, Mountaineer and Photographer
The Lake District has over 100 dales, many of them tranquil enclaves far from the hectic comings and goings of daily Lakeland life. Yet beyond the main river arteries, most dales remain little-known; some see more sheep and deer than humans. Even locals would be hard pressed to pinpoint some with certainty.
Ticking your way through a list of Lake District summits is easy; they stick up and are easily accounted for. Less so the dales. Where, for example, is Blengdale, or Miterdale, seldom-visited Woundale, Fusedale, Moasdale and Pasture Bottom?
In Exploring Lake District Dales, Terry Marsh champions the cause of the dales. Diving into their geology, geography, history, culture, folklore and matters of curious and touristic interest, this book reveals the beauty and appeal of dales, great and small.
Among captivating text and stunning photography, Exploring Lake District Dales also provides you with essential visitor information such as transport links, the most inspiring visitor attractions and sights, unmissable restaurants and great places to stay, making this book the complete package for all Lake District admirers.
Explore the beauty of the Lake District dales with this enchanting and absorbing guide.
Crisp and sharp, fascinating throughout, [this book] is an outstanding journey through the Lake District. - Bill Birkett, Author, Mountaineer and Photographer
The Lake District has over 100 dales, many of them tranquil enclaves far from the hectic comings and goings of daily Lakeland life. Yet beyond the main river arteries, most dales remain little-known; some see more sheep and deer than humans. Even locals would be hard pressed to pinpoint some with certainty.
Ticking your way through a list of Lake District summits is easy; they stick up and are easily accounted for. Less so the dales. Where, for example, is Blengdale, or Miterdale, seldom-visited Woundale, Fusedale, Moasdale and Pasture Bottom?
In Exploring Lake District Dales, Terry Marsh champions the cause of the dales. Diving into their geology, geography, history, culture, folklore and matters of curious and touristic interest, this book reveals the beauty and appeal of dales, great and small.
Among captivating text and stunning photography, Exploring Lake District Dales also provides you with essential visitor information such as transport links, the most inspiring visitor attractions and sights, unmissable restaurants and great places to stay, making this book the complete package for all Lake District admirers.
Reviews / Votes
Crisp and sharp, fascinating throughout, [this book] is an outstanding journey through the Lake District. -- Bill Birkett, Author, Mountaineer and Photographer [A] detailed, highly readable guide ... I could hardly put it down. -- Will Smith * Cumbria Life * Think nothing new can be written about Cumbria... think again. Terry Marsh's painstakingly researched and beautifully written book fizzes with new information leaping from every page. * Mick Smith, Cumbria and Lakeland Walker magazine Editor * Few contemporary writers have lingered longer or more thoughtfully among these landscapes than Terry Marsh. A single philosophical fragment characterises this exploration: "...A patient and watchful eye, an attentive ear and the ability to stand still and let Lakeland come to you will reward even the least valiant of explorers..."There is a quality at work here, one seldom met amid screes of guidebooks. He cheerfully confesses to being a tree hugger, and that an affectionate pat for standing stones "makes me feel grounded". Sixty years of Lakeland exploration are distilled here: the result is a mature work that fuses writing and photography into a single artform honouring one man's sense of place.
Wordsworth's "universe of Nature's fairest forms" has rarely been so admirably served. * Jim Crumley, author of Lakeland Wild and Seasons of Storm and Wonder *
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 185 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
754 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84486-712-7 (9781844867127)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
06/2025
1st Edition
Conway
€19.49
Available for download
Person
Terry Marsh is a seasoned writer and photographer of travel and walking guidebooks. He has a long association with the Lake District, having served for several years as a volunteer warden and written a number of extant guides, mainly walking guides, on the area. He is also the author of Exploring Scotland's Islands, published by Bloomsbury (2024).
Content
Foreword by Bill Birkett
Index of key influencers
1 Introduction
2 The Eastern Dales
- Kentdale
- Longsleddale, Bannisdale, Crookdale and Borrowdale
3 The Lowther lands
- Sleddale
- Mosedale
- Swindale
- Mardale
- Cawdale and Heltondale
4 Patterdale and the Eamont
- Kirkstone and Caiston Beck
- Dovedale
- Hayeswater and Pasture Bottom
- Deepdale
- Grisedale
- Glenridding
- Glencoyndale
- Aira Beck and Matterdale
- Dacre Beck
- Martindale
- Boredale
- Fusedale
5 The Northern Dales
- Bannerdale
- Mungrisdale
- Mosedale and the Caldew
- Barkbethdale
- Southerndale
6 The Langdales and Wordsworth country
- Langdale and Little Langdale
- Elterwater
- Rydal and Grasmere
- Easedale and Far Easedale
- Greenburndale
- Thirlmere and Wythburn
- St John's in the Vale
7 In the company of the Derwent
- Borrowdale
- Seathwaite
- Seatoller
- Watendlath
8 North-west Dales
- Newlands
- Whinlatter and Grisedale
- Buttermere, Crummock and Rannerdale
- Lorton vale
- Loweswater
9 South-west Dales and Copeland
- Ennerdale
- Into Copeland wild
- Wasdale
- Mosedale, Bowderdale and Greendale
- Blengdale
- Eskdale (Ravenglass) and Miterdale
- Calderdale
10 Furness and South Lakeland
- Lyth valley and Gilpin
- Cartmel
- Windermere, Troutbeck and Woundale
- Ambleside
- Hawkshead and Esthwaite
- Grizedale Forest
- Yewdale and Coniston
- Dunnerdale
- Moasdale
- Lickle valley
Bibliography and further reading
Index
Index of key influencers
1 Introduction
2 The Eastern Dales
- Kentdale
- Longsleddale, Bannisdale, Crookdale and Borrowdale
3 The Lowther lands
- Sleddale
- Mosedale
- Swindale
- Mardale
- Cawdale and Heltondale
4 Patterdale and the Eamont
- Kirkstone and Caiston Beck
- Dovedale
- Hayeswater and Pasture Bottom
- Deepdale
- Grisedale
- Glenridding
- Glencoyndale
- Aira Beck and Matterdale
- Dacre Beck
- Martindale
- Boredale
- Fusedale
5 The Northern Dales
- Bannerdale
- Mungrisdale
- Mosedale and the Caldew
- Barkbethdale
- Southerndale
6 The Langdales and Wordsworth country
- Langdale and Little Langdale
- Elterwater
- Rydal and Grasmere
- Easedale and Far Easedale
- Greenburndale
- Thirlmere and Wythburn
- St John's in the Vale
7 In the company of the Derwent
- Borrowdale
- Seathwaite
- Seatoller
- Watendlath
8 North-west Dales
- Newlands
- Whinlatter and Grisedale
- Buttermere, Crummock and Rannerdale
- Lorton vale
- Loweswater
9 South-west Dales and Copeland
- Ennerdale
- Into Copeland wild
- Wasdale
- Mosedale, Bowderdale and Greendale
- Blengdale
- Eskdale (Ravenglass) and Miterdale
- Calderdale
10 Furness and South Lakeland
- Lyth valley and Gilpin
- Cartmel
- Windermere, Troutbeck and Woundale
- Ambleside
- Hawkshead and Esthwaite
- Grizedale Forest
- Yewdale and Coniston
- Dunnerdale
- Moasdale
- Lickle valley
Bibliography and further reading
Index