Kentmere

Kentmere is a valley, village and civil parish in the Lake District National Park, a few miles from Kendal in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. It is historically part of Westmorland. The parish has a population of 95.

The narrow valley spans about 3 miles (4.8 km) in length and begins with a bowl of hills known as the Kentmere Round; a horseshoe of high fells which surrounds Kentmere Reservoir. The reservoir is now the source of The River Kent which gives Kendal its name. Access to this part of The Valley is available via the Roman High Street, over Nan Bield Pass, from Troutbeck over Garburn Pass (Byway open to all traffic), or along an old bridleway up from The Village. The valley is sandwiched between Troutbeck on the west side and Longsleddale on the east. It can only be accessed by road by travelling through Staveley which sits at its mouth where the river meets the Gowan beck coming in from Ings. A walk described by Wainwright in his Far Eastern Fells series as the Kentmere Round involves a 12 miles (19 km) all-inclusive round trip. In the past there were drove roads up over the horseshoe in the north to the village of Mardale which is now under the water of the Haweswater Reservoir. In the past it was a tradition of the valley's inhabitants to travel from Kentmere to Mardale village church as part of the Easter Sunday celebrations.