Haweswater
A remote reservoir in the eastern fells that drowned the village of Mardale, now a quiet haven for walkers and wildlife.
Haweswater is a reservoir in the far eastern Lake District, created in the 1930s and 1940s when a dam was built to supply water to Manchester. The valley was flooded, and the village of Mardale Green, with its church and inn, disappeared beneath the water. In very dry summers, when the level drops, the old walls and the line of the village road reappear.
Today it is one of the most remote and peaceful corners of the Lake District, reached by a single dead end road from Bampton that runs along the eastern shore to the car park at Mardale Head. From there the fells rise steeply: High Street, the old Roman road along the ridge, Kidsty Pike, Harter Fell and the pass of Nan Bield.
The RSPB became involved here because golden eagles bred in the valley, the first in England for many years; the last bird has since gone, but the area is managed for nature with United Utilities. Peregrines, red squirrels and red deer are all seen. A path runs the length of the western shore, and the walk from Mardale Head round to the dam and back is a long, quiet lakeshore day. Spring and autumn are especially fine, with fewer visitors and the light on the fells at its best.
There are no shops and only one hotel, the Haweswater Hotel, on the shore. The car park at Mardale Head is small and fills on summer weekends. Swimming and boating are discouraged on the reservoir.