All the essential ingredients of a mountain landscape grandeur, beauty, ruggedness can be found in the Lake District, yet on a comparatively small scale, making the region welcoming rather than forbidding. From almost all the major peaks there are views of peaceful, wooded valleys, giving the region an essential ‘Englishness’ which distinguishes it from the Scottish Highlands and nearby Snowdonia and inspiring some of William Wordsworth’s most romantic poetry.