Borrowdale, at the south end of Derwentwater in central Cumbia, is generally regarded as one of the major scenic delights of the Lake District, but for hundreds of years it was an area of copper mining in particular and, at its southern end, above the hamlet of Seathwaite, of mines extracting the purest graphite (or ‘wad’) there is; as related in this entertaining and interesting book this gave rise to the Keswick pencil industry. But during the eighteenth century the wad was so valuable that scenic Borrowdale was more like a forerunner of Dodge City - this is a story of vagabonds and thieves, financiers, monks and many others - at times Borrowdale was very definitely the Wild West! 220 well illustrated pages. Paperback. Blue Rock Publications (back in print after some years)