Watendlath

Watendlath is a group of houses and a tarn (a type of Lake) in Cumbria in England.

Watendlath is owned by the National Trust and sits high between the Borrowdale and Thirlmere valleys at convert|863|ft|m above sea level. The first telephone line to the hamlet was laid down in 1984.

Watendlath Tarn

Blea Tarn Gill, convert|700|ft|m above Watendlath Tarn, provides the tarn with its water. Water from Watendlath Tarn flows into the beck of the same name and eventually feeds Lodore falls, and ends up in Derwent Water.The tarn is convert|7|acre|m2 in size and tarn depth is convert|56|ft|m deep. It was given to the National Trust by Queen Victoria's daughter, Princess Louise in memory of her brother, King Edward VII.

Fishing

Watendlath Tarn is stocked with brown trout and rainbow trout and is a popular fly fishing water, with wading and boat fishing used.

Farm

The traditional Lakeland farm in Watendlath is rented out by the National Trust and as is the case of Lakeland farms owned by the Trust the head of Herdwick sheep are owned by the trust and not the farmer changing hands with each tenant. This is part of National Trust's policy to ensure that this rare breed survives.

Watendlath Farm house was used by Sir Hugh Walpole as the fictional home of Judith Paris in his Herries Saga of four novels published in the early 1930s

Watendlath in poetry

Edmund Casson's poem "The Wise Kings of Borrowdale"::Watendlath's quiet nook.:A farm is there, and a slated barn,:And a waterfall, and a pebbly tarn;:And all the way to High Lodore:The banks of the beck are painted o'er:With red herb-willow and red loose-strife.

Packhorse Bridge

One of the features of Watendlath is the traditional packhorse bridge.

The long winding road

To reach Watendlath you need to cut off from the Borrowdale road (B5289) and take the single track unmarked road which winds its way up over Ashness Bridge which is a traditional stone built bridge and a very famous land mark. As the road is only single track, if you encounter any traffic coming in the other direction passing places must be used. Near the bridge is a cairn to the Lakeland fell-runner Robert Graham, who in 1932 set a Lakeland 24-hour record of 42 tops which was not equalled for 28 years.

Dora Carrington

One famous painting of Watendlath is by Dora Carrington and hangs in the Tate Gallery.

During the period 1917-21 Carrington's subjects were mostly intimate portraits and landscapes. The painting depicts Watendlath Farm, where the newly-wed Carrington spent a summer holiday with her husband and their friends in 1921. Among the guests was her husband's friend Gerald Brenan, with whom she developed a mutual attraction. The identity of the two figures in white is not known.

Etymology

The name came from Old Norse "vatn-endi-hlaða" = "water-end-barn".

External links

*http://www.visitcumbria.com/kes/watend.htm
*oscoor gbx|NY276162
* [http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/apictureofbritain/works_north/carrington_farm.shtm "Farm at Watendlath" (1921)]