The Cumbrian Rainforest

THE BORROWDALE WOODS

What springs to mind when you think of a rainforest? Steamy, hot and humid, a tropical wilderness of wildlife, unusual plants and gigantic bugs in a far flung corner of the world? Well, you’d be right of course, but we have rainforests in the British isles too, but temperate rather than tropical.

Aside from the high rainfall, the temperate or celtic rainforests are coniferous or broadleafed ancient trees covered with mosses and ferns and are in ‘moist oceanic regions’ in temperate areas such as New Zealand, south east Austrialia, north west US and the Atlantic islands of Madeira, the Azores and the Canary Islands They are also found on our western shores of Scotland, Snowdonia, the West Country, north and south Ireland and Cumbria. They are cool, shady and damp, have a huge diversity of life and are incredibly rare areas, heavily protected and internationally important.

They may be Sites of Special Scientific Interest, given the highest level of protection in Europe - the Special Areas of Conservation - but that doesn’t mean we can’t all enjoy them simply as beautiful old woods full of birds, insects and wildlife, especially Red Squirrels.

THE WOODS NEAR GRANGE

So where are our rainforests? There are 15 in Scotland, 8 in Wales, 4 in Northern Ireland, 5 in the Republic of Ireland, 4 in Exmoor and Dartmoor and 2 in Cumbria and those lie in the Lake District National Park, on the shores of Derwentwater and Ullswater.

In Borrowdale, the National Trust owns and manages the Borrowdale Woods stretching up from Great Wood below Walla Crag to Lodore, Stonethwaite and Seathwaite, with little pockets in the Newlands Valley, on the shores of Buttermere and up at Honister. On Ullswater’s shores, National Trust owned Glencoyne Woods surround Aira Force, but the woods below Hallin Fell and Low Wood near Brothers Water also fall into the rainforest bracket.

They are wonderful old woods, the Borrowdale complex being especially known for their ‘old forest lichens’ and there are plenty of paths to follow to give beautiful views over the lakes. Great Wood is a particularly accessible walk from the centre of Keswick.

AIRA FORCE

johnny’s wood, borrowdale

great wood, borrowdale

In an ever-changing world, it’s lovely to think we still have these special little sun dappled areas to enjoy that really haven’t changed for centuries.

Recommended Reading:

The Rainforests of Britain & Ireland by Clifton Bain, www.woodlandtrust.org.uk, www.naturalengland.org.uk, www.nationaltrust.org.uk/borrowdale, www.thelakedistrict.org