Ullswater is a lake and valley of moods and majesty. The second largest lake in the English Lake District, it gently curves through eight miles of magnificent mountain scenery, and although popular with, and welcoming to tourists, the area has not been spoiled by overt commercialism and retains an ambience of peace and cheerfulness.

In the summer, the blue of the lake is dotted with the colourful sails of yachts and windsurfers; steamers leisurely cruise the eight-mile length; lakeside strollers are lulled by the lazy slip-slap of the water on the shore; and high above in the surrounding mountains,  silhouetted against the sky, are the tiny shapes of walkers feeling on top of the world.

There is a timeless quality to Ullswater. Its name is believed to derive from an early Viking settler, but there is evidence of earlier history in the mysterious stone circle, known as The Cockpit on Barton Fell. The hamlet of Bennet Head derived its name from a long-gone Benedictine monastery. The High Street Roman road (of which nothing remains but name and legend) offers a glorious stride from Pooley Bridge on the northern tip of Ullswater, over the mountains to Ambleside. Within a few miles of the lake there are two medieval castles – Greystoke and Dacre; there are historic houses at Dalemain and Hutton-in-the Forest, and around the lake, now largely converted to hotels, are the summer homes of wealthy nineteenth century industrialists.

Although mining and quarrying have in the past played a big part in the valley's economy, the principal industry has always been farming and many of the farmhouses dotted around the fells which surround the lake have dates going back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.