Pedestrian Pleasures

The concept of walking for pleasure is something we now take for granted and in the Lake District it is the primary purpose of the vast majority of its visitors. But this was not always the case. Until the advent of motorised transport and the railway network the area was still relatively remote and few ventured deep into the fells for recreation. More often than not, it was an activity considered to be bordering on the eccentric. In this short history, through a variety of sources, Graham Kilner traces the development of walking for pleasure in the Lake District against the background of the social and economic changes which redefined our perception of landscape and our place within it.