The Lakes With Paul Rose

Explorer Paul Rose digs out his rucksack and heads for Windermere in the first of a four-part series about the Lake District. The National Park attracts 18 million visitors each year, and is now a World Heritage Site. In this episode, Paul joins the crowds and finds out why the early tourists thought the Lakes were one of the most dangerous spots in the country. He plunges into the world of long-distance swimming and helps the staff who run the boats on the lake, before meeting a Holocaust survivor who was airlifted to Windermere in 1945, as part of a mercy mission involving 300 orphans after the Second World War.

Paul Rose has an adrenaline overdose on his way to Coniston in the latest episode of his Lake District journey. He starts by entering a retro-cycling event on a penny farthing, before joining the mountain bikers of Grizedale Forest. Paul also relives the final moments of Donald Campbell in his attempt to break the world water-speed record on Coniston Water. He ends his trek with a spot of rock climbing at Dow Crag, before the ascent of one of the areas best-known hills, the Old Man of Coniston.