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The Lake District in Cumbria is England's largest National Park, one of 14 in the United Kingdom. At approximately 34 miles wide and covering some 885 square miles, it is also home to England's highest mountain - Scafell Pike - England's deepest lake - Wastwater - and England's longest Lake - Windemere.
Some well-known towns include Keswick, Ambleside and Bowness-on-Windermere by the lakes, and of course Kendal, which is on the South East boundary of the designated National Park area. Kendal is also the town where the Lake District World Heritage Project, chaired by Cumbria County Council, is based.
The fact that the Lake District might become a World Heritage Site is almost a natural progression from the late 18th Century when Celia Fiennes first wrote about it in her travel book, published in 1778. This was the time when the Lakes began to exert its huge and unique impact on the people of Britain - and, of course, the world.
Later in the 18th century, Thomas West produced his "Guide to the Lakes", with its listings of 'stations' (viewpoints). This really marked the beginning of modern tourism in the Lakes.
But it took the efforts of renowned artists, poets, writers, and even thinkers like John Ruskin, who drew inspiration from the area, to really introduce the Lake District to the world. The impact of their work encouraged others to think about the way in which landscape, the environment and even nature itself could be viewed.
Another book which would influence the popularity of the region was written by one of Cumberland's (as it was then known) very famous sons, William Wordsworth, in 1810: his "Guide to the Lakes". Wordsworth made no secret of the fact that his favourite place was the Duddon Valley in the south-west of the Lake District.
It is the deep impact of the Lakes on the National Consciousness that might result in the National Park in Cumbria gaining World Heritage Site status. World Heritage Sites are considered to have "outstanding universal value" - that is, almost to be be unique - and there can be no denying that the Lake District is certainly unique!
Aside from being assocaited with fine literature and art, Cumbria and the Lake District are exciting places to live and work. The farming families who have lived there over the generations have shaped and moulded the landscape we all know and love today.
This is certainly an exciting time for Cumbria. The Government could make its submission to UNESCO, for all or part of the National Park to become a World Heritage Site in 2011, one of 878 other throughout the world.
While World Heritage Site status doesn't bring the monetary reward of, say, a Nobel Prize, it is nevertheless a major trophy which, in ranking the Lake District alongside the existing list of Heritage Sites of the World, would have a major impact on the region, both social and economic.
A complete guide to the Lakes can be found at The Lake District Guide. See http://www.lake-district-guides.co.uk where you can find listings of accommodation, restaurants, and all the best visitor attractions.
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