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A Holiday in the Lake District 1951

Picture-perfect 1950s holiday home movie, brimful of idyllic scenes of the magnificent Lake District.

Amateur film 1951 26 mins Silent

Overview

Summer holiday plans foiled by terrible British weather? No such misfortune for the Tigg family, as they take a gentle tour of the majestic Lake District - and capture it in glorious Kodachrome colour. Inevitably, they get caught in a Lakeland downpour, but the rest of their trip is one sun-kissed, balmy day after another, spent rambling, rowing boats, taking tea on the hotel lawn and paying their respects at William Wordsworth's grave.

The family seem to have made the most of their time in the Lakes, visiting a plethora of beauty spots such as Easedale Tarn, Gowbarrow Fell, Lake Windermere, the Aira Force waterfall and Friar's Crag, with its monument to John Ruskin. Their holiday is one of middle-class comfort, but the film also hints at the hard work of living in such a tempestuous, often inhospitable landscape - a shepherd drives his flock up a steep hill, a gardener toils while hotel guests lounge on the lawn, and signs along the beetling fell roads warn of their dangers.