Lake District - The Final Word

The Lake District is a truly beautiful part of the world. I can see why so many professional photographers choose to live there and by the time our week there was up I was very sorry to be leaving. It's the sort of place where, if photography is your thing, then you really can't afford to leave the house without your camera. There were several occasions where we would be driving along and spot an amazing view of a lake or a distant, jagged peak and just have to stop and stare in awe. I think having grown up amongst the flat isolation of the Fenlands has left me with an ever present wonder of mountains; and travelling up the length of the Andes in South America only served to reinforce this. It always leaves me minded of the sheer power of the forces that created these landscapes over the aeons. It has been a long standing ambition of mine to get to base camp at Mount Everest, but while Everest is ten times higher than our own top most peak, they each have their own character and allure. Years later I'm still able to pick out mountains in magazines and TV shows from the Andes; they left an indelible mark on me and I would dearly love to return one day.

I think a lot of people don't realise what we have in this country and how lucky we are to have it. We have snow-capped mountains, vast lakes that stretch further than you can see, golden beaches that meet the horizon in both directions and, generally, the weather to enjoy all of this. Yes, there's never a time when you can guarantee it won't rain, but I've seen enough of the worlds deserts to know how fortunate this makes us.

Perversely, it is often cheaper to fly somewhere far flung and be waited on hand and foot than it is to catch a train within our own country and cook your own dinners; and, whilst I have made a point of getting to as many of the worlds beauty spots as I can humanly afford, I believe it is vital for us to remember that we have many of those places right here at home and we can be proud of that.

For those interested in seeing more of our fair land photographed by someone who actually knows what they're doing then I can highly recommend Joe Cornish (not Adam and Joe) and Charlie Waite.