James Rebanks, Matterdale

When the Lake District became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2017 – currently the only British national park to have that gong – it wasn’t just for its spectacular natural beauty. It was also for its cultural heritage and the long tradition of sheep farming that has shaped the landscape, and in particular the hardy Herdwick breed. James Rebanks – known to his 143,000 Twitter followers as @herdyshepherd1 – comes from a line of Cumbrian farmers who have worked the land of Matterdale in the north-east Lakes for generations. Since 2012 he has been sharing life on the farm, revealing through tweets and three books – A Shepherd’s Life, The Illustrated Herdwick Shepherd, and English Pastoral – a side to this national park that can often be forgotten by visitors hunting for the finest vistas. “I wanted to call my first book ‘F*ck Wordsworth,” he once confessed to us, adding that Wainwright only thought about the views from the fells and “didn’t have a clue what was going on down here”. Read his books before taking a walk up Great Dodd, known to Rebanks simply as ‘the fell’, and it’ll bring fresh understanding to the glorious view.

WALK HERE: Download The Dodds at lfto.com/bonusroutes