Lakes of the Lake District: Difference between revisions

Thanks to the {{w2|Last Glacial Period|last glacial period}} of 10,000 years ago, the retreating ice left us with glacially erodeseroded valleys that formed the lake district we see today. Not only the ice, but people too, are responsible for changing the landscape. [[Haweswater]] and [[Thirlmere]] are reservoirs, although the former was once a natural lake. It was dammed to raise the water level in a bid to supply fresh water for the people of Manchester, at a price that flooded two cumbrianCumbrian villages, now lost to the murky darkness. The once ebb and flow of ice and, in much more recent times, people, continue to have an effect on the natural backdrop of the second oldest national park in England after the Peak District, which were both formed in 1951.<ref group="lower-alpha">The Lake District National Park was formed on 9 May, 1951, second after that of the Peak District, which was formed on 17 April, 1951.</ref> national park in England.

The larger of the lakes usually carry the suffix of [[mere]] or [[water]], whilst the humble [[tarn]] is usually reserved for the smaller bodies of water. However, there are some tarns larger than lakes, just to confuse matters.<ref>[https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/learning/factsandfigures Lake District Fact and Figures] The Lake District National Park Authority. Accessed 15 January, 2023.</ref> An example of this is evident in [[Blea Water]] (a tarn) being slightly lager than [[Elter Water]], which is the smallest of the lakes. Each body of water, large and small, encompassed by neighbouring fells, woodland and moors, bestow a natural beauty individual in character. One of the best ways to experience this is on foot.

The word '''tarn''', used extensively throughout the northwest and in particularlyparticular the Lake District, comeshas fromOld theNorse origins with a subtle shift into late 14 century Middle English and typically means a small mountain lake. It is also a dialectal word popularised by the Lake poets.<ref>{{oed|title1=tarn|title2=Tarn|day=22|month=January|year=2022}}</ref>

''Tarn'' is also cognate with other Scandinavian languages: Danish and Norwegian ''[[wiktionary:tjern|tjern]]'' (small forest or mountain lake) , Faroese ''[[wiktionary:tjørn|tjørn]]'' (pond), Icelandic ''[[wiktionary:tjörn|tjörn]]'' (pond), Norwegian Bokmål ''tjern'' (small forest or mountain lake) (Norwegian Nynorsk ''tjern'', ''tjørn''),and Swedish ''[[wiktionary:tjärn|tjärn]]'' (small forest lake).