Thursday 5 April 2012

Elterwater - Swans and Gunpowder

Elterwater is a small village in the Langdale Valley, about half a mile north-west of the small lake from which it gets its name. The name ‘elter’ is thought to derive from the Norse for swan, and swans are still a common sight on the lake.


At one time the inhabitants of the village were involved in farming and slate quarrying. Just outside the village, there was also a gunpowder factory, built on the site of a 17th century woollen mill. The Gunpowder Works opened in 1823 and remained in business for just over a century until the 1930’s depression and the development of more modern explosives like dynamite. Evidently it had a good safety record with only 4 fatal explosions in over 100 years. One story from that era is that the walls of the estate were full of money. The workers were paid in cash and hid money in the wall before they took their pay packets home, so that they could recover it later to spend in the pub!

The site of the works was developed and became known as the Langdale Estate. It had a hotel, several small cottages and some rustic sleeping cabins. Then, in the 80’s, it was converted into a luxury hotel and country club, with over 80 Scandinavian-type lodges which are now let out on a timeshare basis.

Today the most well-known building in the village itself is the Britannia Inn, which is over 400 years old and was a farmhouse before becoming a coaching inn. Now it’s a very popular pub which is usually crowded in the summer months.

26 comments:

  1. Nice post-- Elterwater sounds like my kind of place! The pictures are great-- I would love to come with my camera and take pics of those swans!!

    Cheers, Jenn
    http://www.wine-n-chat.com

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  2. Lovely history blog about a gorgeous sounding village. The only types of pub which appeal to me are exactly the Britannia style ones where you can sit outside and take in the countryside on a sunny Sunday, so your photo makes me start to imagine those days coming soon.

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  3. Who's heart could not be filled with joy if able to walk in those beautiful settings. Thank you for sharing them with us. This is where I'll be dreaming of when I talk my walk around the neighborhood this morning. :)

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  4. Jenn - the Lake District as a whole is a photographer's dream!

    Daydreamer - I used to love those summer days when we could do just that, in such beautiful surroundings too.

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  5. The pics you've been posting have me falling in love with a place I've never been.

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  6. I've been in love with the place for over 40 years, Beth!

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  7. I have to tell you, I have never even thought of traveling to England before this week.
    Now, I would love to see these beautiful country side towns.
    ♥ the history and the pictures and the whole dang thing!

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  8. All of your posts give me all the more reasons of dreaming of going to England. It is so beautiful there!

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com/

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  9. Jo and Kathy - I'll take you both on a guided tour of the Lake District when you come. The beauty of it is there is so much to see in such a small area.

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  10. This Swede would love to visit a place like that! Gimme the luxury hotel, please! Nice post, Paula. Go Team Tina!

    Tina @ Life is Good
    Co-Host of the April A to Z Challenge
    Twitter: @AprilA2Z #atozchallenge

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  11. Thanks, Claudia!

    Tina, thanks for visiting. I'll ersreve a room for you at that hotel, and a session in the spa too!

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  12. Very interesting. Something so wonderfully amazing about a place with real history! Love all of the photos!

    Anna@ Herding Cats & Burning Soup

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  13. I love this tour through all these little hidden lakes and villages of England. (Is this what was being discussed discussed in Pride and Prejudice, when Elizabeth was supposed to be touring as far as the lakes with her uncle and aunt?)

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  14. Anna - you fall over history everywhere in the Lake District, going back to Stone Age times and the Romans, too. We have so much history here, we tend to take it for granted.

    Beverley - I think they were supposed to be going to up the Lakes in P&P, but ended up having to stay in Derbyshire which is about 100 miles or so south of the Lakes.

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  15. Great photos! I love the mountains, water, and quaint little towns.

    Catch My Words
    http://joycelansky.blogspot.com

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  16. Beautiful photos! I also enjoyed learning all the history.

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  17. This makes me want to visit!

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  18. What a beautiful setting! There's something so charming about staying in inns that are that old. 400 years, wow!

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  19. This is also beautiful and quaint. It inspires me to write. Thanks for your visit and comment today.
    dreamweaver

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  20. Another part I don't really know - but you're definitely making me want to go down there even more than usual. If I can just persuade husband that it doesn't rain ALL the time (we get enough of our own up here)!

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  21. You take us to some really beautiful places Paula :-)

    A-Z 2012 (#49) - Bloggit Write A-Z 2012 - Poetry
    A-Z 2012 (#861) - Bloggit Write A-Z 2012 - Haiku

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  22. Thanks all, I'm so pleased you're enjoying this tour of my favourite part of England, with its wonderful scenery, and also its history.

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  23. Rosemary - yes, it DOES rain a lot there, but the bright sunny days make up for that!

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  24. I have got to get around to visiting the Lake District.

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