Glaciated Uplands: Land Use, Tourism & Management
Why Glaciated Uplands Are Used So Intensively
The same landforms that make glaciated uplands so dramatic also make them economically useful. Deep U-shaped troughs are perfect natural reservoirs. Steep fell sides carry thin, waterlogged soils where hardy livestock can still graze. Seams of hard rock — slate, granite, volcanic tuff — run close to the surface where glaciers stripped away the overlying material. And the sheer scenic quality of corries, arêtes and ribbon lakes attracts millions of visitors every year. Each of these qualities has been exploited; each generates both income and conflict.
Economic Activities in Glaciated Uplands
Five major economic activities occupy UK glaciated uplands. Upland farming is the oldest: Herdwick sheep have grazed the Cumbrian fells for centuries, producing meat and wool on land too steep and thin-soiled for crops. Farming shaped the open fell landscape and the network of drystone walls that tourists photograph today. Commercial forestry followed in the twentieth century: the Forestry Commission planted millions of conifers across upland Britain, including large blocks in the Grizedale and Whinlatter forests in the Lake District, for timber, carbon storage and recreation. Quarrying extracts the hard rock glaciers exposed: the Honister Pass slate quarry in Borrowdale has produced Westmorland green slate since the seventeenth century and still employs local people while drawing paying visitors underground. Water storage exploits the glacial trough; ribbon lakes in glaciated valleys are natural deep reservoirs, and several have been dammed or raised for public supply. Thirlmere was converted into a reservoir for Manchester in 1894; Haweswater in the eastern Lake District was raised in the 1930s, drowning the village of Mardale Green. Tourism is now the dominant economic activity in uplands like the Lake District, Snowdonia and the Cairngorms.
The five main economic activities in UK glaciated uplands are upland farming (Herdwick sheep), commercial forestry (Grizedale), quarrying (Honister slate), water storage (Thirlmere, Haweswater) and tourism. Each exploits a characteristic the glacier created.
Land Use Conflicts
These activities do not coexist quietly. Land use conflict is a constant feature of glaciated uplands. Farming versus conservation: overgrazing by sheep and deer prevents trees regenerating on open fellside, keeps the landscape bare, accelerates soil erosion and reduces biodiversity. Conservationists and the National Park Authority push for fencing, reduced stocking densities and rewilding; farmers argue their methods have maintained the traditional landscape for generations. Quarrying versus landscape: Honister provides livelihoods and keeps traditional slate extraction alive, but any quarry expansion raises planning objections in a UNESCO World Heritage landscape. Reservoirs versus the community: when Haweswater was raised, the village of Mardale Green was submerged without any offer to rehouse the community; today the same tension resurfaced when United Utilities proposed raising the dam again in the 2000s. Tourism versus residents: in Ambleside, Keswick and Grasmere, second-home and holiday-let purchases have reduced the supply of affordable housing for local families, pushing young people out of the communities they grew up in.
Tourism in the Lake District: Scale and Impact
The Lake District National Park receives approximately 17 to 19 million visitors a year, making it one of the most visited national parks in Europe. The tourism economy generates around £2.3 billion annually and supports roughly 18,000 jobs in the region. Windermere, the largest natural lake in England, is a honeypot site: on summer weekends its car parks overflow, the A591 road through Ambleside grinds to a halt, and the lake itself is busy with motorboats, paddleboarders and ferries.
Tourism brings both social and environmental impacts. On the positive side, cafes, hotels, outdoor gear shops and tour operators thrive; the income funds conservation. On the negative side, footpath erosion on popular routes like Helvellyn and Scafell Pike is severe. The Pennine Way in the northern uplands lost over a metre of peat and topsoil from heavily walked stretches, and Helvellyn's summit paths show similar degradation. Traffic congestion adds carbon emissions and noise in valleys once prized for their quiet. Wildlife nesting in fell areas can be disturbed by off-path walkers and dogs. Water quality in popular lakes has declined, with Windermere experiencing algal blooms linked to phosphate from surrounding development and boat fuel.
Fix the Fells is a partnership programme between the National Park Authority, the National Trust, Natural England and other bodies. Since it was established it has repaired hundreds of kilometres of upland paths using traditional methods: stone pitching (laying flat rocks by hand to create a durable surface), drainage channels to divert water off paths before it erodes them, and helicopter-lifts of stone to remote sites where machinery cannot reach. The programme is funded partly by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and partly by voluntary donations from walkers. It is a direct response to the erosion caused by millions of visitors per year and illustrates how management must be funded at scale if popular uplands are to remain accessible.
The Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) manages tourism pressure through a range of strategies. Planning control restricts new development to protect the landscape: major hotel extensions, car parks and caravan sites require consent and are often refused or significantly reduced. Traffic management at honeypot sites includes pay-and-display car parks with high charges to deter casual driving, shuttle buses from Bowness to Ambleside, and long-term plans for a low-emission zone on the A591 corridor. Visitor dispersal — guiding tourists to quieter valleys like Ennerdale or the Duddon — aims to reduce pressure on Windermere and Ambleside. The UNESCO World Heritage Site inscription (2017) raised the international profile of the landscape and added weight to planning restrictions, but it also increased international visitor numbers, slightly compounding the problem it was meant to address.
The Lake District receives approximately 17 to 19 million visitors a year, generating around £2.3 billion and 18,000 jobs. Management responses include Fix the Fells footpath repair, National Park planning controls, shuttle buses and visitor dispersal to quieter valleys like Ennerdale.