Plutonium and Americium Inventories in Soil Cores from the English Lake District, Cumbria (UK)

Environmental radioactivity has been reported in the stationary wetlands closer to the natural water basins in Great Britain, precisely in the English Lake District (Cumbria, UK) often emphasise on the investigation carried out through either high-resolution γ-ray spectroscopy or α-particle spectroscopy. The objective of the study is the evaluation of trace actinide (241Am) through environments radioactivity measurements of two Lakes in the Lake District using a broad-energy, high-resolution γ-ray spectroscopy germanium (BEGe) detector. These appeal to the need to determine the radioactive concentration (Bq/g) in the soil samples with the intent being to discern natural and anthropogenic contributions, and trends in abundances associated with influences of the landscape over time, at trace levels in the environment. These measurements highlight potential benefits for the assessment of 241Am and 241Pu, especially comparisons that might be made with accelerator mass spectrometry assessments (AMS). This study intents to offer an inclusive investigation practise for determining the levels of radioactivity in soil cores, as well as the method for statistical analysis approach to calculate the activity of a soil sample, with a special emphasis on categorising the natural and anthropogenic contributors to trace amounts of plutonium in the environment, that is, less than500 fg/g.

Understanding the diversity of recreational walking preferences and experiences: casual and serious walkers in the English Lake District.

This chapter will discuss the findings of a year-long survey of recreational walkers in the English Lake District to highlight the variety of contextual drivers of recreational walking and the motivations and experiences of recreational walkers. The research sought to tease out differences between walkers to develop a typology of walking tourists, and explore the range of associated motivations, the nature of people's walking behaviour and route choices, and their attitudes towards a range of elements related to walking and outdoor recreation. Most prominently this discussion will convey ideas on serious and casual walkers and the walks they choose, with links to the notions of serious and casual leisure proposed by Stebbins (1982).

A New Form of Modern Sport: The Beginnings of Lakeland Rock Climbing 1880–1914

The English Lake District played a key role in British rock climbing and is arguably the place where rock climbing first separated from mountaineering in the 1880s. This article sets its origins in the wider context of Alpinism. It then explains the attractions of the Lake District to early climbers and the ways and locations in which early rock climbing emerged as key participants exploited the landscape to create the innovative rock climbing challenges that were key to their enjoyment. It provides rich detail on how the sport extended body limits, developed new climbing techniques, and used better equipment. Leading climbers there began to record and measure the standard of climbs—another innovation. Although mountaineering clubs elsewhere were exclusively male, relegating leading women mountaineers to a marginal role, in the Lakes, women rock climbers made a notable contribution. The article concludes by evaluating the wider significance of the Lake District for British climbing.

John Brown's Description of the Lake at Keswick: New Clues and Clarifications

This article reports on the discovery of hitherto undocumented printings of John Brown’s Description of the Lake at Keswick. Brown’s Description has long been recognised as a foundational document in the development of interest in the English Lake District during the eighteenth century. The history of the Description, however, has not been fully documented, and this lack of documentation has led to a number of mistaken assumptions. The present article, therefore, not only updates the bibliographical record, but also clarifies a few inaccuracies in previous discussions of Brown’s account. In the process, the article explains how the early versions of the Description add a new dimension to the reception history of the text and shift our understanding of the way the private circulation of unpublished print informed eighteenth-century appreciations of the Lakes region. The article includes an appendix, which presents a copy of the early printings of Brown’s text.

Understanding visitor interaction with a projection augmented relief model display: insights from an in-the-wild study in the English Lake District

Projection augmented relief models (PARMs) are a promising tangible display technology for assisting users in orientating themselves within the represented landscape. The production of physical models is now easier than ever thanks to more freely available digital terrain data and 3D fabrication technology. When placed in a public setting, such as a visitor centre, the physical nature of such displays coupled with digital surface projection is compelling, enticing passers-by to notice and interact playfully with the display. In this article, we describe findings from our in-the-wild study of a PARM display designed to engage and orient visitors to the rural landscape of a remote valley in the heart of the English Lake District. The deployment has involved close collaboration with the Lake District National Trust, and the results of our 3-day observation study (n = 221) contribute to the growing research community seeking to explore and uncover technology designs that are both playful and unobtrusive to the nature experience. Our research also contributes to the literature on public and situated digital displays and, in particular, understandings of visitor behaviour as considered through the so-called audience funnel framework. Our observations revealed that a significant portion (79%) of visitors noticed the PARM display and that, of these, 68% transitioned to giving the display their focal attention. We also observed an apparent expectation for the PARM display to support direct tangible interaction (such as pointing gestures) which contrasts to the phenomenon of interaction blindness discussed in the literature.