Wastwater. Lake District, England. This image captures for me the bleak, austere beauty of parts of the Lake District, which I always erroneously used to assume was lush green throughout, like Windemere and Coniston or the Peak District. The two figures in the rocky landscape, the lone tree, and the way the man walking alone appears so solitary all seem to share the mood of some of Wordsworth's poems.
Wastwater is the deepest lake in England. The fell in the background is not Scafell Pike (which at 3209' is England's highest mountain), as I had thought, but the Illgill Head - Whin Rigg ridge, much lower in elevation. The rocky slope below them is Wastwater Screes (thanks to Colin Price, who knows the area well, for this information).
Photograph 1966 by George P. Landow. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Last modified 8 January 2024