Aira Force
| Aira Force | ||
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 Aira Force waterfall |
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| Coordinates | 54 ° 34 '23.7 " N , 2 ° 55' 41.2" W | |
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| place | Cumbria , England | |
| Number of fall levels | 1 | |
| flow | Aira Beck | |
The Aira Force is a waterfall in the course of the Aira Beck in the Lake District , Cumbria , England . Not far from the mouth of the Aira Beck in the Ullswater lake, the waterfall falls 20 m in one step.
The waterfall sits on land that has been owned by the National Trust since 1906 . Before the National Trust bought the property, it belonged to the Howard family , who converted a fortified residential tower into today's Lyulph's Tower in the 1780s and used it as a hunting lodge. Simultaneously with the renovation of the tower, the area was converted into a publicly accessible park, in which today over 200 species of conifers from all over the world grow, which can be discovered on a circular hiking trail through the park.
On the grounds of the park, two stone bridges cross the Aira Beck, one of which is exactly at the top of the waterfall. Both bridges are dedicated to members of the Spring Rice family , who also lived in the area.
Wordsworth and Aira Force
The Lake Poets William Wordsworth mentions the waterfall at least three times in his works. Wordsworth deals most extensively with a medieval legend in the poem The Somnambulist (Eng. The Sleepwalker). The legend is about a young woman and her concern for the knight she loves, from whom she hears great heroic deeds, but whose loyalty she doubts after a long absence. The young woman begins to sleepwalk and keeps coming close to the waterfall. When the knight comes back one night, he sees his lover sleepwalking at this very waterfall and doesn't really know whether he can trust this apparition, so he reaches for the figure, wakes the woman and she then falls down the cliff. The knight holds her dying in his arms at the foot of the waterfall, and she realizes that he really loves her. Out of grief, the knight lived as a hermit in a cave in the mountains until his death.
Individual evidence
- ^ William Wordsworth, The Somnambulist, part of Poems compossed or suggested during a tour in the summer of 1833. (Nr.XLVI) in: Wordsworth, William, The Complete Poetical Works , London: Macmillan and Co., 1888 here online
Web links
- Aira Force on English Lakes
- Aira Force on Visit Cumbria
- Aira Force Walk on Lake District Walks
- Aira Force and Ullswater on National Trust