The Bowder Stone, Lake District
This applet will take a while to start - it's a big file - but once it has it's your chance to see what the view is like at The Bowder Stone in the Lake District, UK.
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To control the panoramic view click in it then use the spacebar, mouse and up/down cursor keys - you'll soon see how.
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The stone itself has not fallen from the craggs above as many think. In fact it's not a local stone at all and was probably transported there by glaciers during the ice age.
When I was a boy you could shake hands under the stone. This was supposed to bring you luck. It's not a long standing tradition however since the passageway allowing this was cut in the 1800s - at the same time as the nearby small chapel was built. Today the hole has been filled up.
The name 'Bowder' is either from the local dialect meaning 'boulder' or a corruption of 'Baldir' a Norse God. The stone is 30 feet high and weighs an estimated 2000 tons. It looks precariously balanced but it's quite stable. There is a wooden ladder allowing easy access to the top. Once up there you can see from the polished area that thousands of people have trod there before you.
the way if you were looking for what happens when a polluted river heals itself over time. The West Allen, Ninebanks, Northumberland in England - this is it.
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