The Lake District is a national park in the North West corner of England, covering an area of 885 square miles - 33 x 40 miles, of hills and lakes, taking in parts of the ancient counties of Westmorland, Cumberland and Lancashire. Geologically it is a blob of igneous rock which has been glacially eroded into a number of radiating lake valleys. The last glacial period ending just 10,000 years ago buried the area under 1000's of feet of ice destroying all life.
Features include England's longest lake - Windermere, deepest lake - Wast Water, and highest mountain - Scafell Pike (3200 feet), all surpassed in nearby Scotland. Its appearance is the result of high rainfall (wettest inhabited place in England - Seathwaite 3.5 metres per year) and being grazed by 100,000's of sheep. The outstanding natural beauty of the area has inspired writers and artists; it was the home of William Wordsworth, and location of his famous daffodils' poem;
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
and twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
in such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
what wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
There are many gardens open to the public. For example the garden of the Lakeland Horticultural society.