26-04-2025
My lone battle to save Lake Windermere from sewage
The wooden bridge over Cunsey Beck appears to be extremely rickety, but Matt Staniek has been here many times before and offers reassurance. 'It looks like you can't cross it, but you can,' he says. We step into the middle and look down into the water.
The beck is fed by Esthwaite Water, a protected wetland and site of special scientific interest supporting a diversity of plants and breeding birds. It is an idyllic spot sitting below Hill Top, the 17th-century farm once owned by Beatrix Potter, which is now a magnet for visitors.
'Is it any stretch of the imagination that Beatrix Potter would have walked down from her house onto the bridge and stared into Cunsey Beck when she was writing The Tale
