Lake District

About the author

Ian Francis grew up near Loweswater, in the northwest Lake District. Having gained his degree and PhD in geology at Oxford, he worked for several years in Australia, before returning to the UK to commission earth science books at Blackwell (later Wiley-Blackwell). He lives in Maryport, on the Cumbrian coast.

Stuart Holmes is a self-taught photographer from Keswick in the northern Lake District, specializing in landscape and adventure sports photography. Using a paraglider to take aerial photographs enables Stuart to capture landscapes from new perspectives, highlighting features that may not be obvious from the ground.

Bruce Yardley is Emeritus Professor in the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds, where he taught geology and geochemistry for 30 years. He has written 8 academic books, published over 130 research papers, served as Science Secretary of the Geological Society and President of the Mineralogical Society.

Press Reviews

If you are visiting the Lake District and are interested in its geology, this guide is a great place to start.

This is probably the best book I have read on the geology of the Lake District, so easy to understand, not full of jargon and explains in layman’s terms how the landscape of the Lakes was formed and shaped.

It's accessible style and lack of jargon provides a fascinating insight into how the Lake District was formed and shaped. For the novice or experienced fell walker, this edition will add depth to your adventure.

The stated aim, one that is admirably fulfilled, is to provide an accessible text that can be understood and enjoyed by non-experts. This is a book that can be recommended wholeheartedly, for expert and non-expert alike.

A delight to read. The authors, by following Einstein’s razor, commonly stated as: Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler, keep their text tight and economical, and yet by no means superficial. With its straightforward descriptions of how Lakeland rocks formed and how they have affected
the landscape, along with 230 illustrations including magnificent aerial photographs and well-chosen maps, the book will appeal to a wide audience. Additionally, a splendid companion website is made freely available. Its varied supplementary materials are well worth visiting. Clicking on the coloured placemarks reveals photographs and descriptions of key locations mentioned in the book. Very impressive! It is impossible to close this review without singling out the illustrations for special praise. All are closely allied to the text to make a telling point about the geology or landscape. Stuart Holmes’s aerial shots, many taken from his paraglider, have won numerous awards. It is easy to see how wild and mountainous landscapes are his passion.

Combining erudite but accessible commentaries with stunning landscape photographs, informative maps and the occasional graph or chart, Ian and his fellow authors detail the processes that have contributed to, conditioned and, in some cases, threatened the Lake District's environment. This overview then gives way to a series of excursions that conduct the reader on a tour of seven of the region's characteristic localities, including the Seathwaite Valley and Coniston copper mines. The addition of these excursions adds to the value of this attractive and well-produced study, which will be especially interesting for readers wishing to venue outdoors.