Copyright National Remote Sensing Centre Ltd. Raw data copyright European Space Agency/Eurimage.
This shows the entirety of the Furness area. If you need orientating, have a look at the maps page, or note that this image coincides very well with Ordnance Survey Landranger map 96.
The main body of water is the Irish Sea, then to the bottom right of the picture lie the sands of Morecambe Bay. Furness (Far-ness, distant headland) is the main peninsula in the centre of the picture. Historically, it was quicker (but a good deal more dangerous) to cross the sands to the South rather than the hills to the North, hence Furness was a part of the county of Lancashire rather than Cumberland or Westmorland. This was changed by the local government reorganisation of 1974, when the "administrative region" of Cumbria was created. The large island at the end of the Furness peninsula is Walney, and my home town of Barrow is the large urban area on the coast. The natural harbour effect of Walney, coupled with the presence of large local iron ore deposits (at one time, the largest in the world) made Barrow a boom town for industry and shipbuilding from about the 1850s, when the railway arrived. The small bodies of water visible near Barrow's coastline are the docks, and the area of land to the West of them is Barrow Island. Originally a true island, it has in effect been subsumed into the mainland through the construction of the docks.
The largest lake in the picture (indeed, the largest in England) is Windermere. To the West of it lies Coniston Water (note that only one lake in the Lake District actually has the word "lake" in its name, Bassenthwaite Lake). The relative straightness of Coniston is apparent in this picture, and it was for this reason that Campbell chose it for his attempt on the water speed record.
The smaller lake to the North West of the image is Wastwater, the deepest lake in England, so this really is an image of extremes! Even more so given that the mountains at the North East end of the lake include England's highest, Scafell Pike, at just under 1000m or just over 3000ft. And Wasdale Head, the village at the end of the lake, was said to possess the smallest church and the biggest liar in the country as well!
The estuary visible to the West of Wastwater is where the rivers Esk, Mite and Irt flow into the sea. The small town on Ravenglass, with its Roman fort, is sited here. Moving further South down the coast, the more sizable estuary is that of the river Duddon, with the town of Millom on its North shore.
To the East of the Furness peninsula, the rivers Crake and Leven drain Coniston and Windermere respectively. Then further East is the channel of the Kent, which flows down from Kendal, the town just visible in the North East corner of the map. A little to the West of Kendal, the dark green areas mark the forests on top of some of the regions very few limestone pavement areas, like Whitbarrow Scar.
Kendal area
Copyright National Remote Sensing Centre
Ltd. Raw data copyright European Space
Agency/Eurimage.
Penrith area
Copyright National Remote Sensing Centre
Ltd. Raw data copyright European Space
Agency/Eurimage.
West Lakes area
Copyright National Remote Sensing Centre
Ltd. Raw data copyright European Space
Agency/Eurimage.
Carlisle area
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