1 Windermere
Explorer Paul Rose digs out his rucksack and heads for Windermere in the first of a four-part series about the Lake District. The National Park attracts 18 million visitors each year, and is now a World Heritage Site. In this episode, Paul joins the crowds and finds out why the early tourists thought the Lakes were one of the most dangerous spots in the country. He plunges into the world of long-distance swimming and helps the staff who run the boats on the lake, before meeting a Holocaust survivor who was airlifted to Windermere in 1945, as part of a mercy mission involving 300 orphans after the Second World War.
★ 8.0 2 Derwentwater
Explorer Paul Rose packs his waterproofs and heads for Derwentwater and Borrowdale in his latest adventure in the Lake District. It's a place that's no stranger to tough weather - Borrowdale is officially the wettest place in England. He meets those who've battled against flooding and have learned to live with extreme weather events. Along the way, he tells the story of Millican Dalton, the professor of adventure, who ran his own expeditions in the Lake District more than 70 years ago. Paul also heads for the summit of Great Gable, one of the Lake's best-known peaks.
★ 8.0 3 Coniston
Paul Rose has an adrenaline overdose on his way to Coniston in the latest episode of his Lake District journey. He starts by entering a retro-cycling event on a penny farthing, before joining the mountain bikers of Grizedale Forest. Paul also relives the final moments of Donald Campbell in his attempt to break the world water-speed record on Coniston Water. He ends his trek with a spot of rock climbing at Dow Crag, before the ascent of one of the area's best-known hills, the Old Man of Coniston.
4 Eskdale
Remote Eskdale is the final destination in explorer Paul Rose's trek through the Lake District. This corner of the western Lakes is off the normal tourist track but it boasts England's highest mountain. Before heading for the tough Lakeland summit of Scafell Pike, Paul meets the folk who run one of the country's most scenic railways, he has a close encounter with a vulture, and gets to grips with the locals in a spot of Cumberland wrestling.
