Editing Lake District (section)

=== Development of tourism ===
{{More citations needed|date=September 2011}}

====Historical====
Early visitors to the Lake District, who travelled for the education and pleasure of the journey, include [[Celia Fiennes]], who in 1698 undertook a journey the length of England, including riding through [[Kendal]] and over [[Kirkstone Pass]] into [[Patterdale]]. Her experiences and impressions were published in her book ''Great Journey to Newcastle and Cornwall'':

<blockquote>As I walked down at this place I was walled on both sides by those inaccessible high rocky barren hills which hang over one's head in some places and appear very terrible; and from them springs many little currents of water from the sides and clefts which trickle down to some lower part where it runs swiftly over the stones and shelves in the way, which makes a pleasant rush and murmuring noise and like a snowball is increased by each spring trickling down on either side of those hills, and so descends into the bottoms which are a Moorish ground in which in many places the waters stand, and so form some of those Lakes as it did here.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Shirley|last1=Foster|first2=Sara|last2=Mills|title=An Anthology of Women's Travel Writing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=81JxDbc2KeIC&pg=PA183|year=2002|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-5018-3|page=183|access-date=4 March 2016|archive-date=4 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804033227/https://books.google.com/books?id=81JxDbc2KeIC&pg=PA183|url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>

In 1724, [[Daniel Defoe]] published the first volume of ''A Tour Thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain''. He commented on [[Westmorland]] that it was:

<blockquote>the wildest, most barren and frightful of any that I have passed over in England, or even Wales itself; the west side, which borders on Cumberland, is indeed bounded by a chain of almost unpassable mountains which, in the language of the country, are called fells.</blockquote>

[[File:Claife Station.jpg|thumb|Claife Station on the western shore of [[Windermere]]]]
Towards the end of the 18th century, the area was becoming more popular with travellers. This was partly a result of wars in [[Continental Europe]], restricting the possibility of travel there. In 1778 [[Thomas West (priest)|Thomas West]] produced ''A Guide to the Lakes'', which began the era of modern tourism. West listed "stations", viewpoints where tourists could enjoy the best views of the landscape, being encouraged to appreciate the formal qualities of the landscape and to apply aesthetic values. At some of these stations, buildings were erected to help this process. The remains of Claife Station (on the western shore [[Windermere]] below [[Claife Heights]]) can be visited today.

[[William Wordsworth]] published his ''Guide to the Lakes'' in 1810, and by 1835 it had reached its fifth edition, now called ''A Guide Through the District of the Lakes in the North of England''. This book was particularly influential in popularising the region. Wordsworth's favourite valley was Dunnerdale or the [[Duddon Valley]] in the southwest of the Lake District.

The railways led to another expansion in tourism. The [[Kendal and Windermere Railway]] was the first to penetrate the Lake District, reaching [[Kendal]] in 1846 and [[Windermere, Cumbria (town)|Windermere]] in 1847. The line to [[Coniston, Cumbria|Coniston]] opened in 1848 (although until 1857 this was only linked to the national network by ferries between [[Fleetwood]] and Barrow-in-Furness); the line from [[Penrith, Cumbria|Penrith]] through [[Keswick, Cumbria|Keswick]] to [[Cockermouth]] in 1865; and the line to [[Lakeside, Cumbria|Lakeside]] at the foot of [[Windermere]] in 1869. The railways, built with traditional industry in mind, brought with them a huge increase in the number of visitors, thus contributing to the growth of the tourism industry. Railway services were supplemented by steamer boats on the major lakes of [[Ullswater]], Windermere, [[Coniston Water]], and [[Derwent Water]].

[[File:STEAMER ON ULLSWATER.jpg|thumb|A steamer on [[Ullswater]]]]

The growth in tourist numbers continued into the age of the motor car, when railways began to be closed or run down. The formation of the [[Lake District National Park]] in 1951 recognised the need to protect the Lake District environment from excessive commercial or industrial exploitation, preserving that which visitors come to see, without any restriction on the movement of people into and around the district. The [[M6 Motorway]] helped bring traffic to the Lake District, passing up its eastern flank.

====Recent====
The narrow roads present a challenge for traffic flow, and since the 1960s certain areas have been very congested. This problem continues, with traffic congestion and parking problems in the towns and villages. [[Bowness-on-Windermere]] addressed the parking issue with a new car park at the edge of the community and by extending an existing car park.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web |url=https://falconwoodgcsegeography.weebly.com/a-uk-national-park-case-study.html |title=GCSE Geography: Tourism |date= |work=Falconwood GCSE |access-date=1 September 2022 |quote=}}</ref> The Lake District NP publishes a list and map of car parks within its area, allowing tourists to plan their visits accordingly.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/visiting/getting-to-the-lake-district/carparks |title=Car parks|date= 30 January 2017|work=Lake District NP Authority |access-date=1 September 2022 |quote=}}</ref>

Whilst the roads and railways provided easier access to the area, many people were drawn to Lakeland by the publication of the ''[[Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells]]'' by [[Alfred Wainwright]]. First published between 1955 and 1966, these books provided detailed information on 214 fells across the region, with carefully hand-drawn maps and panoramas, and also stories and asides which add to the colour of the area. They are still used by many visitors to the area as guides for walking excursions, with the ultimate goal of [[Peak bagging|bagging]] the complete list of ''[[List of Wainwrights|Wainwrights]]''. The famous guides were revised by [[Chris Jesty]] between 2005 and 2009 to reflect changes, mainly in valley access and paths, and are currently being revised by Clive Hutchby, the author of The Wainwright Companion. The first of the revised volumes, Book One: The Eastern Fells, was published in March 2015; the most recent, Book Six: The North Western Fells, was published in April 2019.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/jun/13/books.ruralaffairs | work=The Guardian | first=Martin | last=Wainwright | title=Famed fells guides join the 21st century | date=13 June 2005 | access-date=17 December 2016 | archive-date=1 December 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201214536/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/jun/13/books.ruralaffairs | url-status=live }}</ref>

Since the early 1960s, the National Park Authority has employed rangers to help cope with increasing tourism and development, the first being [[John Wyatt (writer)|John Wyatt]], who has since written several guide books. He was joined two years later by a second, and since then the number of rangers has been rising.

The area has also become associated with the writer [[Beatrix Potter]]. Several tourists visit to see her family home, with particularly large numbers coming from Japan.

Tourism has now become the park's major industry, with about 12&nbsp;million{{Fix|text=Disagrees with figures in National Park section}} visitors each year, mainly from the rest of the UK and from China, Japan, Spain, Germany, and the US.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/holiday/destinations/lake_district_cartmel |title=Desintations: Lake District |publisher=BBC\ |date=27 January 2005 |archive-date=27 January 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050127144348/http://www.bbc.co.uk/holiday/destinations/lake_district_cartmel/ }}</ref> Windermere Lake Steamers are Cumbria's most popular charging tourist attraction, with about 1.35&nbsp;million paying passengers each year, and the local economy is dependent upon tourists. The negative impact of tourism has been seen, however. [[Soil erosion]], caused by walking, is now a significant problem, with millions of pounds being spent to protect overused paths. In 2006, two [[Visitor center|tourist information centres]] in the National Park were closed.

Cycling is now popular in the Lake District National Park.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/visiting/things-to-do/cycling|title=Lake District cycling|date=25 April 2017|website=Lake District National Park|language=en|access-date=29 May 2019|archive-date=29 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529132440/https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/visiting/things-to-do/cycling|url-status=live}}</ref> A number of long-distance cycle routes go through the Lake District, including coast to coast cycle routes such as the [[Coast to Coast Cycle Route|C2C]], Hadrian's Cycleway, the Reivers Route and the Walney to Wear route. Several towns have also become hubs for road-cycling holidays and cycle touring, such as [[Keswick, Cumbria|Keswick]] and Ambleside. Mountain bikers use the trails constructed at Whinlatter Forest<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forestryengland.uk/whinlatter/cycling-and-mountain-biking-trails-whinlatter|title=Cycling and mountain biking trails at Whinlatter|website=Forestry England|language=en|access-date=29 May 2019|archive-date=29 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529132438/https://www.forestryengland.uk/whinlatter/cycling-and-mountain-biking-trails-whinlatter|url-status=live}}</ref> and Grizedale Forest and also have wilder routes available on bridleways.

Cultural tourism is becoming an increasingly important part of the wider tourist industry. The Lake District's links with a wealth of artists and writers and its strong history of providing summer theatre performances in the old Blue Box of Century Theatre are strong attractions for visiting tourists. The tradition of theatre is carried on at venues such as [[Theatre by the Lake]] in Keswick with its summer season of six plays in [[repertoire (theatre)|repertoire]], Christmas and Easter productions, and the many literature, film, mountaineering, jazz, and creative arts festivals, such as the [[Kendal Mountain Festival]] and the [[Keswick Mountain Festival]]. Two museums, The World of Beatrix Potter and [[Dove Cottage]] & The Wordsworth Museum, are also important aspects of the region.<ref name="auto1"/>