Qualla: Ennerdale Water

Ennerdale Water: Introduction

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Michael Graham, CC BY-SA 2.0. There is no public road up Ennerdale. That single fact, more than any other, explains the lake. Park at the western end near Ennerdale Bridge - a hamlet of two pubs and a few houses - and you must walk in. The valley is managed jointly by the Forestry Commission, the National Trust, and United Utilities, and they have agreed, in essence, to keep the inside quieter than the outside. The result is the most westerly lake in the Lake District National Park, surrounded by Great Gable, Green Gable, Brandreth, High Crag, Steeple, and Pillar, and somehow still uncrowded on a summer afternoon when Windermere is heaving.

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Image: Michael Graham | CC BY-SA 2.0

Ennerdale Water: Anund's Valley

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit John Gibson, CC BY-SA 2.0. The name traces back to an Old Norse personal name - Anundr - and the Norse word dalr, valley. 'Anund's valley' has shifted over centuries through Anundar to Ennerdale, and there has been cross-influence with Ehen, the name of the river that drains the lake to the Irish Sea. On 1...

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Image: John Gibson | CC BY-SA 2.0

Ennerdale Water: The Lake That Watered the Coast

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mick Garratt, CC BY-SA 2.0. For most of the 20th century, Ennerdale supplied drinking water to the Whitehaven area through United Utilities and its predecessors. In 2013 the Environment Agency told United Utilities the abstraction licence would be revoked, to protect the ecology of the lake and the River Eh...

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Image: Mick Garratt | CC BY-SA 2.0

Ennerdale Water: The Girt Dog of Ennerdale

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit William Barker, CC BY-SA 2.0. In 1810 something was killing sheep. Not a few; hundreds, in and around the Ennerdale valley. The locals called it the Girt Dog - 'girt' being dialect for 'great' - though descriptions suggested it had the traits of both a dog and a large cat. A hunt eventually tracked it down an...

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Image: William Barker | CC BY-SA 2.0

Ennerdale Water: Cinema, Coast-to-Coast, and a Proposal

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit User:Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0. Despite the Lake District's status as a national favourite for film shoots, Ennerdale has largely been left alone. The most notable exception is the closing sequence of Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later (2002), which includes a sweeping panoramic view of the lake. Alfred Wainwright's c...

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Image: User:Diliff | CC BY-SA 3.0

Ennerdale Water: The Walk That Stays Quiet

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Phillip Capper from Wellington, New Zealand, CC BY 2.0. From Ennerdale Bridge, a track leads east along the southern shore of the lake and on into the valley toward Black Sail Hut, one of the most remote youth hostels in England. The fells rise immediately: Pillar to the south, Great Gable closing the valley head, Steeple visible high...

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Image: Phillip Capper from Wellington, New Zealand | CC BY 2.0