trip to The Lake District National Park

English Literature trip to The Lake District

2020 marks the 250th anniversary of Wordsworth’s birth

“I have had excellent service as always. We used the sites as sources of historical evidence to aid GCSE performance. All aspects of the trip...”

Patrick, History Teacher, Hampshire

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Alexandra, Head of Physics, Alleyn’s School London

English Literature trip to The Lake District National Park

Experience The Lakeland Poets’ environment, which brings their poetry alive

A trip to the English Lake District will be invaluable for Key Stage 4 students to better understand The Lakeland Poets, who lived in the area in the first half of the nineteenth century. Most notably, these included William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey, all considered to be key figures of the early Romantic period. The writers were inspired by their sublime and wild surroundings, and, in turn, their poetry inspired readers to visit The Lake District, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Via a variety of excursions, from beautiful walks, to visits of poets’ retreats and homes, students experience The Lakeland Poets’ environment, which brings their poetry alive. Hearing poetry read aloud in the very place it was created makes this a special and unforgettable educational trip.

The itinerary is tailored to the group’s needs and can have more of an activity-based focus. Our centre offers a range of exciting excursions.

Sample Itinerary

Day 1

Arrive and settle into your accommodation, perhaps enjoy some evening poetry reading.

Day 2

Morning excursion to the village of Grasmere. Explore the Jerwood Centre and Dove Cottage, William Wordsworth’s first Lakes home. Visit St. Oswald’s Church where Wordsworth is buried.
Sample freshly baked gingerbread, synonymous with Grasmere! An afternoon Lakeland walk around Derwent Water, read poetry in an invigorating setting. Pass Greta Hall in Keswick – the former home of the poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey. Many famous literary personalities visited Greta Hall, including P.B. Shelley and Sir Walter Scott. Evening play at Theatre By The Lake (subject to tour dates).

Day 3

Morning excursion to Brockhole on Windermere, which offers a range of curriculum-based workshops for schools, as well as lots of fun outdoor activities. Visit Hill Top, the idyllic Hawkshead home of Beatrix Potter. Wonderful, original works are on display. Continue to Hawkshead Grammar School, where Wordsworth went to school, parts of which date back to the 16th-century.
Travel on to Coniston Water, the setting of Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons series, first published in 1930. Enjoy a ride on a rebuilt Victorian steam-powered yacht on Coniston Water.

Day 4

Morning visit to the childhood home of William and Dorothy Wordsworth in Cockermouth. Let off steam in the afternoon at GoApe in Whinlatter Forest Park. Free time for shopping in Keswick.

Day 5

Departure for homeward journey.

Terry Abraham

Visits

Browse a selection of our favourite activities and visits.

The Wordsworth Trust is based here. The collection has manuscripts of the great British Romantic poets. Wordsworth’s picturesque home Dove Cottage was opened by the poet and Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney. It is almost unchanged from Wordsworth’s day; here he produced some of his most famous poems.

Contemporary theatre with two stages, sitting next to Derwent Water.

The Lake District Visitor Centre.

17th-century farmhouse, home of children’s author and illustrator Beatrix Potter. Furniture and original artwork on display.

Parts of the school date back to the 16th century, examine the old school classroom.

This Georgian townhouse is the birthplace of William Wordsworth, everything is left as it would have been in the 1770s.

Treetop rope course in a forest park.

Interactive museum in Keswick – the home of the first pencil! A good wet weather option.

Where to stay

Popular places to stay.

Our centre occupies a dramatic setting at 300m on a south facing slope of Blencathra in the Lake District National Park and offers an unparalleled panorama.

The centre generates its own hydro-electric power and is heated using renewable biomass. Purposely converted from a former Sanatorium, these unique buildings are equipped with interactive whiteboards, visualisers, access to laptops and tablets, and WiFi throughout the centre, offering excellent facilities for schools.

The centre can provide full-board accommodation and there are places to relax during free time such as a lounge, games room and outdoor space.