The Lyth Valley is on the edge of the

Lake District National Park The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, England. Until 2023, it gave its name to an

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

(one of 45 in

South Lakeland South Lakeland was a local government district in Cumbria, England, from 1974 to 2023. Its council was based in Kendal. The district covered the southern part of the Lake District region, as well as northwestern parts of the Yorkshire Dales. A ...

). As a result of local government reorganisation in Cumbria, since 2023 it is part of the Westmorland and South Lakeland council area. The valley is a U-shaped valley about 4 miles long and 1.5 miles wide, oriented in a roughly north-south direction. The River Gilpin, a tributary of the

River Kent The River Kent is a short river in the county of Cumbria in England. It originates in hills surrounding Kentmere, and flows for around 20 miles (32 km) into the north of Morecambe Bay. The upper reaches and the western bank of the estuary ...

, runs through it, and the A5074 road runs through it from the village of

Windermere Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the List of lakes and lochs of the United Ki ...

towards southern destinations. There are no significant settlements in the valley. The valley is sheltered by limestone hills and enjoys a relatively mild micro-climate for northern England. It is noted for its

damson The damson (), damson plum, or damasceneSamuel Johnson equates "damascene" and "damson" and for "damask plum" simply states "see Plum" (''A Dictionary of the English Language'', 1755, p. 532). Later expanded editions also distinguish between "da ...

orchards.

Literary associations

Mrs Humphry Ward Mary Augusta Ward (''née'' Arnold; 11 June 1851 – 24 March 1920) was a British literature, British novelist who wrote under her married name as Mrs Humphry Ward. She worked to improve education for the poor, setting up a Mary Ward Centre, ...

in her '' Helbeck of Bannisdale'' celebrated the valley in springtime, with its "mists of fruit blossoms. For the damson trees were all out, patterning the valleys".Quoted in G. Lindop, ''A Literary Guide to the Lake District'' (London 1993) p. 20 * Margot Robert Adamson, the

Scottish Renaissance The Scottish Renaissance (; ) was a mainly literary movement of the early to mid-20th century that can be seen as the Scottish version of modernism. It is sometimes referred to as the Scottish literary renaissance, although its influence went be ...

poet, wrote of this "Wide silent valley/Beneath whose scree-faced hill the sea birds call". *

Alfred Wainwright Alfred Wainwright Order of the British Empire, MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalking, fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume ''Pictorial ...

maintained that "The supreme joy of the Lyth valley is its annual springtime renewal", with damson blossom "appearing as white puffs of smoke all over the valley".

Drainage

The flat bottom of the valley was bog before being drained for the benefit of farmers. In recent years there has been controversy about the cost of the pumps that keep the valley drained. For some years the pumping has been funded by the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

, but the Agency decided that its resources would be better deployed in more populated areas of Cumbria. The creation of an

Internal drainage board An internal drainage board (IDB) is a type of operating authority which is established in areas of special drainage need in England and Wales with permissive powers to undertake work to secure clean water drainage and water level management wit ...

for the valley has been discussed as an alternative. The Agency committed itself to keeping the pumping stations in operation until 2020 to allow more time for a decision on how water level management would be organised in future.

Ecological implications

There have been objections from environmentalists to a drainage regime that does not take account of the valley's contribution to biodiversity. It is argued that a less intensive drainage scheme would benefit wildlife, and still allow farming or paludiculture. In 2014 it was reported that 35 ha of wetland habitat was being created in the Lyth Valley on the edge of the Sizergh estate. The project received funding from

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

as part of a higher level stewardship scheme. It was hoped to attract

bittern Bitterns are birds belonging to the subfamily Botaurinae of the heron family Ardeidae. Bitterns tend to be shorter-necked and more secretive than other members of the family. They were called ''hæferblæte'' and various iterations of ''rared ...

and other wildlife.

References

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