Wasdale, reputed to be the home of the highest mountain, the deepest lake, the smallest church...and the greatest liar in England...
It has to be the Lake of Wastwater that attracts so many people to this delightful part of the Lakes.
Wastwater is perhaps the most awe-inspiring of all the English lakes. It is hemmed in by the great mountains of Red Pike, Kirk Fell, Great Gable and ,of course, Scafell Pike. Its waters can look decidely ominous, for this is also the deepest of the English lakes. It takes the form of a fissure which plunges beneath the surface of the water for more than 250 feet...in fact the bottom of the lake is below sea level.
Adding an extra element of grandeur are the famous screes on the south-east side of Wastwater. These extend the whole length of the lake and have been formed by gradual erosion.
Wastwater and Wasdale have been described as "as grand a combination as can be found in the British Isles". In the little churchyard at Wasdale Head one may find the graves of those who have died scaling the dangerious heights of the Gable and Scafell. In the early days Wasdale Head was united with Eskdale for burials, and the coffins were carried on horse-back across the moor.
Every year many people come to Wasdale for their annual "Biggest Liar in the world" competition, originated by Will Ritson, one time landlord of the Wasdale Head Inn. He was famous for his stories...one of them being the story of the eagle with a broken wing which was put in a chicken run and mated with a foxhound bitch in order to breed winged hounds that hunted along the screes.
It is said of him that he entered a competition at the dale sports for the man who could tell the biggest lie, but when it came to his turn he asked to withdraw.
"Why?" he was asked. "Because I cannot tell a lie," he replied.
He won!
Locked in the heart of the mountains at the end of the lake is the remote little village of Wasdale Head, with narrow walled lanes, grey stone houses, and streams cascading down the hills. It is famous as the centre for the highest climbs in Lakeland. Here amid Nature's pageantry is one of the smallest churches in the land, just 40 feet long and 17 feet wide, with only three windows and a roof which on one side is less than six feet high.
|
