Lyth Valley

The Lyth Valley, looking north towards the Cumbrian fells, with Scout Scar (right)

The Lyth Valley is on the edge of the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England.[1] Until 2023, it gave its name to an electoral ward (one of 45 in South Lakeland).[2] As a result of local government reorganisation in Cumbria, since 2023 it is part of the Westmorland and South Lakeland council area.

The valley is a U-shaped valley about 4 miles long and 1.5 miles wide, oriented in a roughly north-south direction. The River Gilpin, a tributary of the River Kent, runs through it, and the A5074 road runs through it from the village of Windermere towards southern destinations. There are no significant settlements in the valley.

The valley is sheltered by limestone hills and enjoys a relatively mild micro-climate for northern England. It is noted for its damson orchards.[3]

Lyth Valley from Helsington Barrows

Literary associations

• Mrs Humphry Ward in her Helbeck of Bannisdale celebrated the valley in springtime, with its "mists of fruit blossoms. For the damson trees were all out, patterning the valleys".[4]
• Margot Robert Adamson, the Scottish Renaissance poet, wrote of this "Wide silent valley/Beneath whose scree-faced hill the sea birds call".[4]
• Alfred Wainwright maintained that "The supreme joy of the Lyth valley is its annual springtime renewal", with damson blossom "appearing as white puffs of smoke all over the valley".[5]

Drainage

The flat bottom of the valley was bog before being drained for the benefit of farmers. In recent years there has been controversy about the cost of the pumps that keep the valley drained. For some years the pumping has been funded by the Environment Agency, but the Agency decided that its resources would be better deployed in more populated areas of Cumbria.[6] The creation of an Internal drainage board for the valley has been discussed as an alternative.[7][6] The Agency committed itself to keeping the pumping stations in operation until 2020 to allow more time for a decision on how water level management would be organised in future.[8]

Ecological implications

There have been objections from environmentalists to a drainage regime that does not take account of the valley's contribution to biodiversity. It is argued that a less intensive drainage scheme would benefit wildlife, and still allow farming or paludiculture.[9][10]

In 2014 it was reported that 35 ha of wetland habitat was being created in the Lyth Valley on the edge of the Sizergh estate. The project received funding from Natural England as part of a higher level stewardship scheme. It was hoped to attract bittern and other wildlife.[11]

References

1. "Yorkshire Dales and Lake District national parks to be extended". BBC. October 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
2. "Lyth Valley". North-West Evening Mail. 2013. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
3. "Damson Day". Retrieved 14 April 2017.
4. Quoted in G. Lindop, A Literary Guide to the Lake District (London 1993) p. 20
5. A. Wainwright, Wainwright in the Valleys of Lakeland (London 1996) p. 73
6. "Farmers and conservationists row over flood defences". www.itv.com. 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
7. Tunningley (July 2015). "Bid launched to save valley". Westmorland Gazette. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
8. "Lyth Valley Pumps To Stay On Until End Of 2020". Retrieved 14 April 2017.
9. "The Lyth Valley". RSPB. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
10. "Making boggy land pay". Cumbria Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
11. Dickinson, Katie (16 October 2014). "Park End Moss aims to bring wildlife flooding in". Westmorland Gazette. Retrieved 21 November 2014.

54.29943°N 2.84220°W / 54.29943; -2.84220