
Mardale
Mardale is a dramatic glacial valley in the Lake District with a fascinating history.
Plan Around Mardale
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Mardale Details
The valley used to have a hamlet at its head, Mardale Green, but the village was submerged in the late 1930s when Manchester Corporation created the Haweswater Reservoir. Most of the village's buildings were blown up by the army, who used them for demolition practice. The exception was the small church, which was dismantled in April, 1937, stone by stone, and the stones and windows were re-used to build the water take off tower situated along the reservoir's western shore. Some 97 sets of remains were disinterred from the churchyard and transferred to nearby Shap village. Alfred Wainwright protested bitterly about the loss of Mardale in his series of pictorial guides to the Lakeland fells, having first visited it in 1930. The ruins of the abandoned village occasionally reappear when the water level in the reservoir is low. In response to the submerging of the village the Manchester Corporation provided a new access road that runs for four miles along the south-eastern side of the reservoir to a car park at Gatesgarth - the gateway to ascents of several peaks surrounding the head of the valley, such as Harter Fell, High Street and Kidsty Pike. Grid Reference: NY 47535 12550 Address (near): Haweswater Valley Road, Penrith CA10 2RP, UK
Difficulty
Low
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Nearby Parks Around Mardale
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Nearby Points of Interest Around Mardale
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2.3 mi away
High Street Roman Road
A 2,000-year-old road built by the Romans to link their forts at Brougham near Penrith and Ambleside.
3.7 mi away
High Street
High Street is the highest summit in the eastern fells of the Lake District, and was once traversed by a Roman road, giving the peak its name.
3.7 mi away
Myers Head Lead Mine
Lead, zinc and some pyrite were mined in its' short operational life.
4.6 mi away
Martindale
The quiet Martindale valley nestles between the lakes of Ullswater and Haweswater.