The largest natural lake in England, Windermere was born some 13,000 years ago when water from melting glaciers was held in place by moraine rock that the glaciers had deposited during the Ice Age.
The lake is more than ten miles long, and a mile across at its widest point, with a surface flecked with 18 islands.
When tourism arrived in Victorian times, entrepreneurs built themselves lavish homes in gardens, down the east shore.
