Friends of the Lake District: Lake District UNESCO World Heritage Site Bid Bids for World Heritage inscription for the English Lake District were made as long ago as the 1980s and although they were deferred for further consideration, in 1992 UNESCO created a new category of World Heritage site – the ‘cultural landscape’ – on the basis of the English Lake District’s case. In 2014 the government agreed that the English Lake District would be the UK’s World Heritage nomination in 2017 as a World Heritage cultural landscape. The Nomination Document and Management Plan were prepared in 2015 and submitted to UNESCO in January 2016 and UNESCO will make a decision on the bid in July 2017. The case for World Heritage inscription for the English Lake District is based on three themes of ‘Outstanding Universal Value’: the harmonious beauty of the natural landscape as modified by farming and industry; the inspiration of the landscape for the Picturesque and Romantic movements; and the emergence of early conservation initiatives to protect the Lake District landscape - which led to the creation of the National Trust and UK National Parks. These themes are intertwined and inseparable and together make a unique and compelling case for the English Lake District to be a World Heritage site. The day is designed to explain these three themes and the physical and associative attributes in the landscape which support them. These will be discussed during a walk from Grasmere to Rydal which will include a stop at the Wordsworth Trust to see the current exhibition ‘Wordsworth Country’, which explores the ways in which Wordsworth's words began to draw people to the landscape that inspired them, and shows how the Lake District became so inextricably linked with its most famous figure. Terrain and activity: Easy/Moderate Timings: 10:30am - 3:00pm All sessions are booked on a first come first served basis. Please bring: a picnic lunch & clothing/footwear for all weathers. (Please note there is no indoor backup venue so the sessions will go ahead in poor weather unless unreasonable or unsafe to do so) Workshop provider: John Hodgson - Lead Adviser: Historic Environment and World Heritage Coordinator Lake District National Park Authority