• Alston
• Allonby And Aspatria
• Ambleside And Troutbeck
• Appleby In Westmoreland
• Askam In Furness
• Barrow In Furness
• Bassenthwaite
• Borrowdale
• Bowness On Windermere
• Brough
• Buttermere
• Brampton
• Broughton In Furness
• Carlisle
• Cartmel
• Cleator Moor
• Cockermouth
• Coniston
• Dalston
• Dalton In Furness
• Dent
• Grange Over Sands
• Grasmere
• Greenodd
• Grizedale
• Hawkshead
• Kendal
• Keswick
• Kirkby Lonsdale
• Wasdale And Gosforth
• Kirkby Stephen
• Longtown
• Loweswater
• Maryport
• Melmerby
• Milnthorpe
• Nenthead
• Newby Bridge
• Orton
• Penrith
• Pooley Bridge
• Ravenglass And Eskdale
• Sedbergh
• Seascale
• Shap
• Silloth And Solway
• St Bees
• Skiddaw
• Staveley
• Tebay
• The Duddon Valley
• Threlkeld
• Ulverston
• Vale Of Lorton
• Wasdale
• Wetheral
• Whitehaven
• Wigton
• Windermere
• Workington
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Lake District trees and scenery

In ancient times, woodland covered most of the dales and extended far up the fell sides. This plentiful timber was beginning to be thinned by prehistoric man. Clearance took place to make room for settlements. The Norse folk called such an area a thwarted. Much later, there was a high demand for wood to be made into charcoal for industrial purposes. An example is the western side of Derwentwater where, before the year 1780, it is recorded that only one tree remained after widespread felling for smelting ore taken from the local mines. (It is more than likely that saplings existed to regenerate the oak woods, for oak is conspicuous there today.)

Some of the fine trees in that area were planted on the instructions of Lord William Gordon, who purchased Waterend estate. His lordship died in 1823. The species planted included oak, spruce, silver fir, Weymouth pine, Scots pine and beech. Notice in Mosedale that trees on the slopes include juniper. Where there are waterfalls that have cut into the texture of the rock, oak roots might be seen questing between layers of Skiddaw Slate. Notice the pollarded ash near Newlands Church.

Sycamore tends to be despised, and even rooted out, because it is not considered to be a native. The tree did not come naturally, before the land bridge with Europe was flooded some 5,500 years ago. Yet sycamore is an attractive hardwood and it has been with us for some four centuries. Larch was introduced from the Alps in the eighteenth century. Everywhere, there are rhododendrons.

Coniferous In Dodd Wood, on the lower slopes of Skiddaw (walk 6), Douglas fir and other introduced conifers have attained heights of over 100 feet (30m). Sitka spruce, one of the species introduced from northwest America, is a common conifer because it grows lustily under grey Lakeland skies.

The plantations on Whinlatter (walk 8) are the oldest state forests in the Lake District, having been planted by the Forestry Commission, which was set up to augment what remained of our timber reserves after the First World War. Planting began on what was known as the Hospital, near the summit of Whinlatter Pass, on the 19th December 1919.

Deciduous Mixed woodland is dominated by oak of varying ages, including mature trees. Borrowdale\'s splendid oak woods are a delight to visit. Johnny Wood (walk 19) has a mix of venerable oak, birch and larch. Ashness Wood, above Derwentwater, is also the resort of sessile oak, the northern variant. Ivy Crag Wood, which is the southern edge of Dodd Wood and beside the A591, two and a half miles (4km) northwest of Keswick, is a reserve of the Cumbria Wildlife Trust. This is the only semi natural woodland left on Skiddaw. The Dodd was first planted in about 1790. Ivy Crag Wood, on a fell side of much loose screen, appears to have developed from this.

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