Britain's haven for thrill-seekers.

Byline: Aidan Payne

Standing ominously in the north of England lies some of the most breathtaking and rugged terrain in the UK.

Not only is the Lake District the most mountainous area in England, it is also one of the wettest places in Britain.

As you can imagine, with names like Helvellyn, Scafell Pike, Skiddaw, Walla Crag and Glaramara, this is no place for the fainthearted and it has become a Mecca for fell walkers, mountaineers and a whole host of thrill-seekers dying to pit themselves against the great outdoors.

It is also a haven for history buffs, with more than 6,000 known archaeological sites and monuments dating from prehistoric times to Second World War.

Just setting foot outside is like taking a step back in time, with intimidating mountain ranges and myriad lakes from which the area takes its name, offering some of the most breathtaking and unspoilt scenery in Europe.

Parks

The Lake District is home to the largest of the UK's 14 national parks and covers 2,292sqkm.

It owes its rugged landscape to massive glaciers that melted thousands of years ago, carving out huge valleys in the process and leaving behind a series of lakes - including Wastwater, the deepest at 74 metres.

However, it was also the birthplace of renowned poet William Wordsworth and the place where author Beatrix Potter spent most of her life - inspiring her to write several books including The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

More than 8.3 million "day visitors" a year pour into the Lake District and a year after scaling Africa's highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, I decided it was time to take a look for myself.

From my base on the Welsh island of Anglesey, know as Ynys Mon (Mother of Wales), it took four hours and three train changes to reach Kendal - where I teamed up with friend and former GDN colleague Clive Dennier for a spot of mountain climbing and miles of fell walking.

Just being back at home in the UK, with the cooler temperatures and open spaces, felt like a breath of fresh air.

And what better way to sample that air than with a one-hour walk around the picturesque Tarn Hows, near Coniston, in rain and mist?

The tarn (a mountain lake or pool formed in a recess excavated by a glacier) is National Trust property and is reputedly the most photographed place in the Lake District.

The area used to be a marshy valley made up of a number of smaller tarns, but flooded to create a number of small islands in one larger pool surrounded by conifer trees.

In fact, it used to be owned by Beatrix Potter - who left 14 farms and 4,000 acres of land to the National Trust when she died in 1943.

After an evening exploring the more comfortable interiors of Ambleside's nightspots, the next day witnessed the more serious business of climbing Helvellyn, England's third highest peak standing at 950 metres.

The route to the top of Helvellyn began civilised enough, taking us from the car park at Glenridding.

However, we were faced with a considerable flow of water coming down from Mires Beck on its way to Ullswater after heavy rains.

This meant the first part of the route was muddy and it took us through a small forested area before coming out on open ground, but despite the steepness, it was comfortable, thanks to the well maintained paths.

However, it is when you reach around 700 metres and a point known as Hole-in-the-Wall that you start the death-defying scramble up Striding Edge, a knife-edged crag of rock.

This involved scrambling over almost a mile of jagged rocks - at times sliding on your backside along an inches-wide ridge with vertigo-inducing drops on both sides.

We were joined by fellow climbers who navigated this section with varying degrees of confidence, although everyone was looking out for each other to make sure nobody encountered any difficulty.

With the hard part done, the final assault to the summit involved more scrambling over loose rock and past an interesting memorial to Manchester artist Charles Gough, who slipped from a rock and died there in 1805.

His skeletal remains were found three months later near Red Tarn, a pool sitting in the shadow of Helvellyn, being watched over by his faithful dog 'Foxie'.

The summit itself is on a plateau so flat that small planes have been known to land there and it offers stunning views across the Lake District - when it's not shrouded in mist!

On the way down, we encountered another craggy ridge known as Swirral Edge, which though less steep than Striding Edge, is still quite tricky and care should be taken as you complete the Helvellyn horseshoe.

However, not satisfied with conquering one of England's tallest peaks, the next day saw us go better and take on Scafell Pike - England's highest peak at 978 metres tall.

This is supposedly easier than Helvellyn, but because of a late start and the remoteness of the area, it meant we didn't get back until the early hours of the morning.

Starting from Middle Fell Farm, you are rewarded with magnificent views of the Langdale Pikes, which is worth the effort and some good hard climbing up steep ridges and paths.

Realising time was against us, we made it up to Crinkle Crags, which are a series of five rises and depressions.

But as we discovered, anyone tackling this temperamental landscape must go prepared since sudden changes in weather make it easy to lose your bearings and proper footwear is a must.

While we were scaling the Crags, the mist rolled in, making orientation difficult across a terrain covered in large boulders, loose scree, slippery grass and few obvious routes.

On reaching the end of the crag, you are rewarded with great views of Bow Fell opposite and Scaffell Pike to the west, with the Irish Sea visible on the horizon on what eventually turned out to be a clear day.

However, for me an outward bounds holiday in the UK would not be complete without a stop in North Wales and Snowdonia - one of my favourite places for walking.

I decided to undertake a walk from Llyn Ogwen, outside of Bethesda and passing to the east of the famous Tryfan peak and its Adam and Eve rocks at the summit, before scrambling up a ridge in a region known as the Glyder range and onto Llanberis.

The start is quite gentle as you pass Llyn Bochlwyd, which is a lake similar in shape to Australia when seen from high up.

A difficult scramble takes you up over a scree-strewn ridge, which is part of what is known as the Devils Kitchen - with Glyder Fach (994 metres) straight ahead.

This area is a plateau and quite boggy, so I turned towards the path and went up Glyder Fawr (999 metres) and down the other side relatively easily - until the hillside changed from rock to grassy fields.

Many small streams and rivers flow down the sides of the mountains and with no obvious paths in places, you can easily sink in the peaty bog.

After eight hours or so of walking, I finally reached Llanberis - the start of the easiest route up Mount Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales and England.

En route back to Anglesey, it's worth stopping off at Caernarfon for a look at the magnificent castle King Edward I began constructing in 1283.

On the outskirts of Caernarfon, there are also the remains of Segontium Roman Fort, which was built during the Roman occupation of Britain and was the largest fort in North Wales when it was established in AD77.

It remained in service until AD395, since it was an important link with Chester over the border in England and the foundations can still be seen, along with remnants of the sewer system and the floors of the buildings.

A small museum at the site tells the story of Roman Britain and has a number of artefacts and exhibits on view.

Anglesey (about the same size as Bahrain) is itself rich in history and Parys Mountain, just south of the most northerly Welsh town Amlwch, has been worked for over 4,000 years for its copper and was the biggest copper mine in the world during the 18th Century.

These days, the mountain is scarred and largely barren because of the acidity of the soil and looks in parts like a moonscape, particularly the Great Open Cast area and even the heather growing further down the mountain is purple.

If you have the time, the Anglesey Coastal Path - about 200km in length - is popular among walkers and has many places of interest to visit along the way with some breathtaking scenery.

Places along the route include Holyhead, Trearddur Bay, The Menai Straits and its famous suspension bridge, Beaumaris Castle, the beach resort of Benllech, Moelfre where the Royal Charter sank in 1859, Amlwch and Cemaes Bay.

Or you could go inland near Menai Bridge and get a photograph at the railway station at Llanfair PG - an abbreviated version of the longest name in Britain: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

This roughly translates into: "Church of Mary in the hollow of the White Hazel near the fierce whirlpool and the Church of Tysilio by the red cave.'

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