As you lake it

Not the landscape itself of course (that was formed around 400m years ago and would require an unfeasibly large cake) but the Lake District National Park.

One of the four founder national parks, it was created in a post-war Britain eager to explore its wilderness and, more importantly, keen to protect it.

As such, the Lake District National Park represents a shift in British attitudes to the outdoors; from a place we feared we would get lost, to a place we hoped we’d lose ourselves.

In the intervening 60 years, our holiday habits shifted all over Europe and beyond, from packages to Spain to fly drives to Florida.

But despite the boundless glitz offered on foreign shores, the lakes have retained the pull of the wild, a pull that attracts a staggering 15m visitors each year.

And most of them are in Bowness- on-Windermere at 4pm on a Saturday in high season.

Its streets are packed with a heady mix of daytrippers escaping northern cities, returning ramblers rustling in nylon and Chinese coach tours happily snapping away. Thankfully the park is big enough to cope.

The real Lake District, that idyllic image of an unspoilt, isolated wilderness, is not too far away and its looming presence can be glimpsed between the gift shops and galleries.

William Wordsworth immortalised this landscape in his work, and now the Lake District has immortalised him, with several attractions charting him from cradle to grave (quite literally).

But more recently, it was Alfred Wainwright and his eponymous walking guides that captured the essence of the landscape and inspired millions of us to explore its beauty.

The first of Wainwright’s guides was published in 1955, when the park was in its infancy, and the series of seven books detail routes up more than 200 peaks now commonly known as “the Wainwrights”.

Climbing, or “bagging” them, is now a popular pastime (the hotel bar manager had bagged about 130, and was still going strong, now with his young daughter in tow).

The area is synonymous with walking, walking up the hills and mountainsides, fell walking, walking around the lakes.

But what about the less intrepid – and our family group comprising me, my wife and 10-month-old daughter Matilda, certainly was.

Can you discover the lakes without walking anywhere?

If you don’t fancy bagging a peak, then bag a train ticket and explore the landscape and a bit of its industrial past at a sedate pace that requires little effort.

The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is a seven-mile stretch that winds from the park’s western coast to the foot of England’s highest mountain range.

Steam hauled, this narrow gauge line was built in the late 19th century to carry iron ore out of the hills but by the first world war it had been closed. There was a brief revival to haul granite, but since the 1960s it has hauled holidaymakers on the spectacularly scenic trip from Ravenglass to Dalegarth.

If the history, railway specifications and even the north-west’s notorious weather leaves you cold (and be warned, many of the carriages are exposed to the elements), the imposing views of the Scafell range will ignite that Wainwright fire within.

Somewhere in its midst is Scafell Pike, at 978m England’s highest peak and described by Wainwright as “every inch a mountain”.

Fear not, at the end of the 40-minute train ride, there are a couple of pubs to douse those flames of adventure before you get too carried away.

Another way to get a sense of the area’s sheer scale, without breaking out the walking boots, is to take a drive (and if you catch a glimpse of a disapproving Wainwright in your rear view mirror justremember motoring is very 1950s so it’s a nostalgic nod the parks’s past).

The Hardknott Pass connects Eskdale with Duddon Valley and competes with North Yorkshire’s Rosedale Chimey to be the steepest road in England.

Its tortuous hairpins snake upwards at an incline of 1-in-3 in places, and with passing spots few and far between on the singletrack road, it is a one hell of a ride.

But none of this put us off, no, because we knew none of it as we identified the notorious pass as a “shortcut” back to the hotel.

The road sucks you up into a world of craggy outcrops, with mist shrouded peaks appearing then disappearing as the cloud swirls.

What’s more, the views even come with a sense of achievement more commonly associated with a day-long hike than trip in the car.

And if you’re still not convinced the magic of the lakes can be discovered without the use of an anorak, dubbin and a thermos, then head back to Bowness and hop on a boat.

A pleasant cruise on Windermere takes in some more rugged views along with a close up look at the shore side mansion’s built by the north west’s wealthy mill owners.

However, we concede. The Lake District is famous, world-renowned, for its foreboding landscape churned up all those millions of years ago, and it is best explored on foot.

But take to the Lake District at a more leisurely pace, and what you discover is that it has something else in spades.

It oozes charm from a more recent era, one of scoffing sweets on a steam train, one where driving was a hobby not a chore, and one when boats were still a marvel.

It is old fashioned without being too stuffy, refined but not snobbish but certainly not “quintessential” – that celebration of an England that never existed.

Yes, it bares the scars of the odd fashion faux pas, particularly a few buildings dating from the 1960s, but what 60 year old doesn’t. Above all, it retains a style and beauty that is timeless.

And next time, I promise, I’ll bring the walking boots.

The Fayrer Garden House Hotel offers old-world charm in stunning surroundings.

Set in five acres of grounds, it boasts excellent food coupled with stunning views of Windermere.

Its imposing dark wood interior, elegant rooms and impeccable service create a real sense of luxury.

The hotel is currently offering a Wicked Winter Warmer break, a three night stay between November 6 and March 29, from £71pppn including dinner, bed and breakfast.

For more information call 01539 488195 or visit fayrergarden.com