Wastwater is England's deepest lake and lies in a remote valley to the west of Cumbria.It is an awe inspiring sight surrounded by some of Cumbrias most famous mountains including Scafell Pike,Red Pike,Kirk Fell, Great Gable and and Yewbarrow. Wastwater is 3 miles long,half a mile wide and 260 feet in depth and is the deepest of all the lakes. Wordsworth described Wastwater as 'Long, narrow, stern and desolate' but Coleridge had an entirely different opinion and considered it to be "a marvelous sight" The valley was colonized by Norse farmers around the 9th and 10th century as was much of Cumbria and many of the local names reflect that occupation, streams are termed becks, from the Old Norse 'bekr', mountains are 'fells' from the Norse fjall, waterfalls forces (fos), ravines 'gills' and small lakes are termed tarns which derives from 'tjorn', meaning teardrop. This view looks towards what is known as the Wastwater Screes which are a 1500-foot high vertical wall of rock crumbling and sliding down into the lakes shore.The reddish colour is caused by layers of iron laden rock and the colouring was once used for marking sheep. The right hand side above the screes is Whin Rigg and more to the centre is Illgill Head and is more commonly known as the northern portion of the Wastwater Screes. The top end of the valley is known as Wasdale Head and the can be found St Olaf's church which is one of the smallest churches in the country. Wasdale head is one of the main starting points for walkers heading for Scafell,great Gable and many other prominent mountains in this area. This is a five stitch panorama.