28/01/2025
History of the Lake District.
10000BC Ice slab melts over Cumbria forming the valleys and lakes.
3500BC First man arrives in Cumbria and the Neolithic Age is in full swing. The Langdale Axe factory exported thousands of axe heads across the United Kingdom.
2000BC Stone Circles appear during the Bronze age. Castle Rigg and Long Meg are just a few minutes from Ullswater.
100BC Iron age. Hill forts from this time include; Dunmallard Hill (3 miles from The Quiet Site) and Maiden Castle (only 1 mile away!)
78AD What did the the Romans do for us? Well actually quite a lot! They built a road from Brougham to Ambleside aptly called High Street which can be walked easily from The Quiet Site. The Roman fort at Hard Knott is favourite of mine as the view we see today is the exact view the Roman soldiers saw.
945 Edmund 1st (not Blackadder!) defeated the last Cumbrian King, King Dunmail. The Vikings have also been lurking around the area for a few years prior to this
1092 King William II conquered Carlisle for England starting hundreds of years of conflict between the two countries. Fortified houses appear accross Cumbria.
1322 Penrith destroyed by Black Douglas and 30,000 Scots.
1450 the oldest "railway" in the world is discovered in a mine near Caldbeck.
1510 Watermillock Cottage at The Quiet Site built by Joseph Woof.
1558 Watermillock Church built.
1564 Elizabeth I gave Royal assent to mine graphite from Borrowdale to be used in pencils and casting moulds for cannon balls.
1600 Whitehaven becomes the second busiest port in England.
1680 the barn which now houses The Quiet Bar was built.
1711 Englands first efficient Blast Furnace was built in Furness.
1752 Watermillock cottage extended.
1770 William Wordsworth born in Cockermouth.
1778 Whitehaven raided during the American war of independance.
1800 Samuel Coleridge moves to Greta Hall, Keswick to be close to his friend, William Wordsworth.
1811 Pencil factory opens in Keswick.
1834 The Three Bears written by Robert Southey from Keswick.
1844 Commercial railway comes to Cumbria as Lancaster is linked to Kendal.
1847 First Hotel opens at Windermere.
1871 John Ruskin moves to Coniston.
1877 First Steamer on Ullswater starts at the request of Thomas Cook. The original steamer is still running today.
1890 Stan Laurel born in Ulverston.
1901 First Submarine built at Barrow.
1902 Beatrix Potter writes the Tale of Peter Rabbit.
1907 Alfred Wainwright is born.
1910 Pictue of Watermillock Cottage at The Quiet Site.
1926 Watermillock Village Hall built.
1933 Postman Pat’s author, John Cunliffe, is born in Kendal.
1935 The Haweswater valley is flooded to form a reservoir.
1951 The National Park is formed.
1956 Watermillock Cottage is reported derelict in local paper.
1963 Camping and Caravaning starts at The Quiet Site making it one of the oldest sites in Cumbria.
1967 Donald Campbell is killed while attempting to break the world water speed record.
1970 The Shap-Penrith section of the M6 open, perhaps the most picturesque section of motorway in the UK. Britains favourite service station, Tebay, is born.
1972 The Penrith-Keswick railway line is closed.
1974 Westmorland and Cumberland join to form Cumbria.
1987 The film 'Withnail and I' is released. Shot at Sleddale Hall, Wet Sleddale near Shap, the film has become one of Britain's biggest cult films.
2009 and 2015/16 saw the Worst floods ever recorded. Up to 14 inches of rain in 24 hours. Numerous bridges swept away.
2020 The Quiet Site introduces energy-positive accommodation (Gingerbread Houses)
2024 is the warmest year on record.
2025 Who Knows. Twelve thousand years ago, the ice slab melted over Cumbria. With climate change here to stay, the Lake District’s climate is set to become warmer. Farming, post-Brexit, is set for massive changes and our landscape may begin to look very different.
Does anyone have any predictions?
Photo taken from the International Space Station 246 miles up. 246 miles is also the distance from Ullswater to London Bridge!
www.thequietsite.co.uk
