Bassenthwaite Lake Bassenthwaite Lake Bassenthwaite Lake is one of the largest water bodies in the English Lake District. It is long and narrow, approximately long and wide, but is also extremely shallow, with a maximum depth of about . It is the only body of water in the Lake District to use the word ""lake"" in its name, all the others being ""waters"" (for example, Derwentwater), ""meres"" (for example, Windermere) or ""tarns"" (for example, Dock Tarn). It is fed by, and drains into, the River Derwent. The lake lies at the foot of Skiddaw, near the town of Keswick. Some maps dating
Lake District "Guide to the Lakes" in 1810, and by 1835 it had reached its fifth edition, now called "A Guide Through the District of the Lakes in the North of England". This book was particularly influential in popularising the region. Wordsworth's favourite valley was Dunnerdale or the Duddon Valley nestling in the south west of the Lake District. The railways led to another expansion in tourism. The Kendal and Windermere Railway was the first to penetrate the Lake District, reaching Kendal in 1846 and Windermere in 1847. The line to Coniston opened in 1848 (although until 1857 this was only linked