Bowder Stone

We get loads of emails to the Fabulous North inbox about places we visit, but one of the requests we receive the most is "Why don't you have more ridiculously sized boulders that are precariously plonked?"

So following on from the success of the Dog Stone, we present to you the Bowder Stone!

When it comes to huge rocks, this one may be the king in the UK. The Bowder Stone is a massive andesite boulder and you will find it in Borrowdale, near Keswick in the lakes.

The most impressive part of it has to be its unnatural resting position. You would think when it was deposited by a glacier 10,000 years ago, it would have fallen to reset on the big flat side, but nope, it's balanced perfectly on an edge.

Although it looks like it could topple at any moment, it's perfectly safe. So much that a local chap called Joseph Pocklington put up the a wooden staircase so people could climb to the top. It's been replaced now with a metal one, but it's bonkers being able to climb up to the top.

Wor Jo bought the Bowder Stone and all of the surrounding area in 1798 made it into a bit of a tourist attraction, building a little cottage nearby to sell refreshments to visitors.

We know you're gagging for some stats, so here you go. The Bowder Stone is around 9 metres tall and 15 metres in circumference and as mentioned, weighs in at an impressive 2,000 tonnes.

Its name is derived from the old word 'bower' which means a dwelling or shelter, probably referring to the space beneath it.

But maybe a glacier didn't deposit it here after all. Legend says that a giant picked up the boulder from Bowder Fell and lobbed it into the valley below, where it landed in its current spot.

These kinds of giant-throwing-stones legends are common in Cumbria and Scotland where the locals used it to explain how such enormous rock could end up in a place with no similar stones around, long before glacial geology was understood.

Look out for the sign in the car park where Mary Thompson welcomes visitors to the Bowder Stone. She was a guide for 50 years (early 1800s until her death in 1866) and actually lived in the cottage Joseph built. She was the main tour guide and would welcome visitors, ply them with refreshments and even accompany them up the wooden ladder. A bit of a local celebrity at the time.

And here is a smashing photo from our very own Fabulous North royalty Dorothy Gardner circa 1967 whilst on her honeymoon! The pic shows just how mahooosive the stone is and also the old wooden ladder.

It's pretty easy to get to the Bowder Stone. Just park in the Bowder Stone National Trust car park and then follow the sign and through the clear track in the forest for about 700m.

Around a 5 minute walk and the stone is at the side of the path, so you can't miss it!