“Lake District”? The Clue is in the Name!

In a light hearted move that shows British humour at its very best (and probably has people from overseas scratching their heads in bewilderment), the newly formed South Norwood Tourist Board (SNTB) in London (all four members!) are contacting Cumbria Tourism to say that they feel that they have more of a claim to be called The Lake District, rather than the real thing.  The basis of their argument is that of all the numerous stretches of water in the Lake District, only one actually has the word “Lake “ in the title, namely Bassenthwaite Lake.

They rather cheekily point out that the London suburb of South Norwood, which is part of Croydon, has two lakes, double the number found in the real Lake District.  With a sweeping statement, no doubt uttered with tongue firmly in cheek, Ian Bone of SNTB points out that there is not much to do when it rains in the Lake District, and “once you’ve seen one stretch of water, you’ve seen them all”. He feels that their northern friends should stop using the name  so that South Norwood can use it instead.

Lake District

"People are astounded to discover the Lake District only has one lake," he said.  He said tourists had historically been misled and the area's attractions were overrated.

Stoically, Cumbria Tourism are treating the claim with the gentle distain that they feel it deserves. Swatting the claim aside like a loose ball down the leg side, Cumbria Tourism Managing director Ian Stephens said: "Until I see any further notices or instructions from their solicitors I can't be too worried about it."  He suggested a possible cultural exchange "to go down and understand the delights of Croydon". I'm sure the ponds of South Norwood have their merits and it is flattering that they wish to emulate our natural environment, albeit in a modest way."

Mr. Bone and three friends came upon a photograph of Arthur Conan Doyle in a local pub and, thinking it sad the area was not more celebrated for this famous connection, decided to set up a small group to rectify matters. He was also keen to point out that the town was home to Pickles, the famous dog who found the missing World Cup in 1966. “And were people aware that the town had the world's first reinforced concrete tunnel?" he laughed.

There you are, that laughter hopefully gives the game away, and the proximity of April 1st might have given Mr. Bone a chance to recant. But, no, it seems as though SNTB will be chipping away again in the future.
Trying to bring a sense of decorum to the argument, Cumbrian angler and environmentalist Eric Hope said tarns, meres and lakes are all just local names with their roots in a mix of Cumbric, Old English, Old Norse and modern English. "What we're looking at is centuries of people using different names for the same thing.” He said. “The Lake District is steeped in tradition. There's a huge difference between Cumbria and Croydon and it's not just in the spelling."

Residents of Cumbria have long corrected the erroneous use of Lake Windermere or Lake Ullswater - pointing out quite rightly that it says the same thing twice. A glance in the dictionary might be helpful. Both the Oxford English and the Collins define meres and tarns as lakes. By that account, Cumbria can claim anywhere up to 80 lakes.

Game, set and match Cumbria we think!

http://southnorwoodtouristboard.com/
http://www.cumbriatourism.org/