Switching off in the Lake District - Buttermere

How do you make a place better? Visitors bring in income but they also bring pollution, litter and just by being in a beautiful destination change the place - so how to resolve the travel bug dilemma.Words by Nicola Baird (see www.nicolabaird.com for more info about my books and blogs). 

In the YHA Buttermere car park (not garden). (c) NB

For the past 23 years I've probably gone to the Lake District at least once a year for an all-too-short week. Last week - in June - I was able to go again, ostensibly to accompany my husband Pete May as he ticks off the final Wainwright mountains. Pete, who wrote Man About Tarn, loves a list. I'm not such a fan - I'd rather do something I like again and again. And usually when that involves walks what i love is to wonder around lakes, ideally without bumping into many people.

Robinson glows in the evening light. What a sunset. (c) NB

So I wasn't feeling very smiley when my plan to get quietly lost on the way to the famous Rannerdale bluebell valley was stymied by many, many competitors hurtling down the fell half way through the 10 in 10 to the midpoint stop at Buttermere. This is an annual mountain race raising funds for MS. This year it started and ended at the Swinside Inn, in the Newlands Valley and took the competitors 16 miles over Causey Pike, Sail, Crag Hill, Wandope, Whiteless Pike, High Snockrigg, Robinson, Dale Head, High Spy and Maiden Moor. As it happens I walked over the low corner of Robinson on the way to Knott Rigg and Ard Craggs and it is massive so I should have been more impressed, well done the fundraisers.

James Rebanks - who farms near Ullswater - has been talking broadly about how the Lake District can cope with so many visitors. It's always had a lot of visitors, but as foreign holidays seem off the agenda it is now also making do for a lot of people. Cars and driving is a major problem, no one wants traffic jams in the countryside, but few visitors seem willing to make use of the buses. In the summer the lakeland buses have a reasonable service (that's how we got from the train at Penrith to Keswick and then on to Buttermere YHA) but a day trip is £11 and most single journeys seem to be around a fiver which soon starts to feel painful. It's definitely a lot more expensive than going by tube or bus around London. But the scenery is fabulous, the 77 or 77a looping from Keswick via Honister mountain pass and slate mine or Whinlatter forest is gorgeous. Possibly the best bus route in the world, though it might have to contend with the 19 in London which hits different sorts of landmarks (Fortnums, Harrods etc).

Buttressing roots on a lime tree by Buttermere. (c) NB

Visitors: let's make some changes
I had plenty of time to think about what could be changed as i wondered around the big, deep lake at Buttermere. Here are some of my ideas. What do you think might work?  I'm back in the Lakes in September, so wouldn't it be nice if something felt different...  

1. Anyone driving into the Lake District to pay a voluntary pollution fee. I think there could be a "ring of conscience" around the area which once crossed gives the visitors the opportunity to make a donation... They might even find it easier if they are greeted by a real person (paid or volunteering) who is also able to give some helpful advice about whatever Lake District activity they plan to do from wild swimming to red squirrel spotting.
2. Anyone holidaying in the Lake District to spend one day of their time off volunteering for the National Park or even the National Trust (in whatever way is appropriate, eg, directing parking, picking up litter, nature observation etc). If we could be trusted I'd say make us do some wall fixing too, but that is definitely best left to experts...
3. YHA and all other residentials to be super clear about how they can be reached using public transport. Anyone who travels via public transport to be given some kind of reward (the bedroom with the view, the nicest table, discounts, whatever appropriate). It still shocks me how YHA has become a place for older people who invariably drive. I know times change, and June is not the school holidays but most YHA visitors could probably pay more than they do, so maybe ask them to pay more for driving, at least that way they might consider sharing lifts.
4. What about if each Lakeland village had some electric bikes which people could use to get to the start of walks? This might be incredibly difficult to organise but maybe existing bike hire set ups, like E-venture bikes in Keswick could be funded to scope the idea or help match routes to all those many people trying to climb the 214 Wainwright mountains.

5. 

   Another sign said 3 lambs had been
   killed by dogs, don't make it 4.

   
   And ALL dogs on leads. It is heartbreaking to see how many people can't be bothered to do this, and how much it upsets the Lake District sheep and farmers. There needs to be fines (even for the cute fluffy dogs). And/or offer a basic dog training check at every car park (or bus stop).
6. Cottage renting businesses should provide info about how their places can be reached using public transport and not defaulting to "left off the A something or rather"... This would be a great paid intern job for some of the University of Cumbria or even nearby Lancaster Unviersity students. And perhaps they could be paid by the vehicle tithe?
7. I know there are more EV charging spots in the UK than most of us think there are. Perhaps they could be better publicised so people with EVs could make use of them on holiday.
8. But the point for me is that holiday is a time you are wanting a change and the biggest might be stepping out of a car and going a bit slower in order not to choke the place you are visiting with traffic.

Hiking around Crummock Water - the road dominates the other side. (c) NB

Sad, sad situation

So many ash in the Lake District are marked up with red numbers.
I don't know what this code means but the area is clearly suffering
badly from ash disease die-back. (c) NB

1. At Buttermere we met a National Trust warden who was spraying ominous codes on to the ash trees that are very obviously failing to thrive. I'd been picking up litter on the fells (interestingly always worse when you near a car park) but he said it was in 2020 during lockdown when things got really bad - he'd found 68 (I think) abandoned tents in the woods and people had also left litter and all sorts of equipment. Apparently this had inspired the locals to start litter picking and plogging (jogging and picking up litter) so a big thank you to them. But some of the Lake District councils (like Allendale) don't seem to recycle properly but at the same time covid precautions and so many visitors means there is inevitably more litter. 
2. As for tissue behind gorse bushes, on the fells, in the woods... What is wrong with people?! You don't need paper for outdoor wees. No one is going to want to pick up soggy urinated tissue so if you plan to make use of toilet paper in the outdoors then you need to think like serious US hikers who either dig in their waste or even better carry it out (in tupperware).
3. Blowing serviettes aren't so lovely either, I think it would be great if these simply weren't provided when you get a cuppa. If you need to wipe your face and hands, either wash... or get up and go and find a napkin. But this is a small matter compared to visitor numbers.
4. We have zero carbon targets for 2030 and 2050 which o the strength of this particular visit seem unattainable - so unattainable that McDonalds at Penrith provides all its drinks and meals in containers that will be chucked out within about 15 minutes of being bought and yet they claim to have "an aspiration to be a zero waste business". Haha.
5. And finally: in the Lakes there are still people who need foodbanks, and there are people who are shipping in food and not needing to eat it all before they leave. Is there some way of coordinating the half peanut butter jars and still good veg? Could the tourists cook up something delicious if coordinated by a mutual aid inspired local?

What I've failed to consider is methods of farming - or shopping and eating. I find a holiday is always expensive and I do have a budget for that. It would be good to eat more local things, made more locally. This time I didn't go into Booths or look around many of the shops in either Keswick or Penrith so I'm not sure what's on offer. But I did try a lot of very tasty locally made pies: delicious!

I've just realised that I had time to think broadly about this issue because I couldn't get wifi or phone service as much as normal. I can see that might be super frustrating for locals, but I think it helped me last week. Thank you Lake District residents for letting us visit, what a beautiful place you so kindly share.