Planning a trip to the lakes and want to make sure you make the most out of your visit? Contact Lakeland Visitours for a guided sightseeing tour of the best places to see in the Lake District!

My Association With The Lake District

I have had a long association with the Lake District. In my former career as a planning officer in Cumbria since the early 1960's, my professional activity in architecture, the countryside and the built environment gave me an in-depth knowledge of Cumbria and the Lake District, ranging from Alston in the east to Whitehaven in the west, and from Barrow-in-Furness in the south to the Scottish border.

My student thesis 'Tourism in the English Lake District' was runner-up for the Royal Town Planning Institute's Silver Medal and I developed an interest in those early visitors who sought out the picturesque and those later industrialists who developed the Lake District for their personal Arcadia. That led to a fascination in the literature of the Lake District, from authors as diverse as William Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter, Arthur Ransome, John Ruskin and Hugh Walpole.

My Experience

I'd climbed all the Lakeland tops before I'd heard of Alfred Wainwright as fell-walking is my main outdoor activity. I have a wealth of experience as party leader (40 years +) for walking and trekking tours in Britain, Europe and worldwide, and hold the Summer and Winter Mountain Leadership Certificates and First Aid (Rescue Emergency Care) Certificate. I am a member of the Fell & Rock Climbing Club of the English Lake District and was its Journal Editor for 10 years.

I have a special interest in photography and writing guidebooks for walking tours: I am the author of 6 published walking guidebooks and I have been writing since the age of 21. I am now researching for a book on Cumbrian architecture.

My Accreditations

I qualified as a Blue Badge Tourist Guide for Cumbria in 2000 and as a guide to Hadrian's Wall in 2010, and was one of the first guides in the country to gain an additional Eco-Tourism accreditation in 2011.

To book your tour and see the hidden wonders of the Lake District, contact Lakeland Visitours today.