blur: vage, dooreenlopende vlek.

concerted: verwoed.

eulogy: lof(gedicht).

to flout: negeren.

to take a hammering (woordspeling): letterlijk: een pak slaag krijgen, in elkaar geslagen worden; hammering betekent ook: gebons, lawaai.

mayhem: rotzooi.

to mount: organiseren.

to prevail: zegevieren.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850): Engels dichter, grondlegger van de Engelse Romantiek.

The Lake District, in the north-west of England, is widely regarded as the most beautiful part of that country. Its beauty was first made famous by the numerous eulogies written by the poet William Wordsworth some 200 years ago. It was here that he penned one of the most famous poems in the English language, the one that begins: “I wandered lonely as a cloud”.

As this line hints, one of the qualities of the area which Wordsworth especially appreciated was its tranquillity. But this tranquillity has taken a real hammering in the last few decades. One wonders what Wordsworth would have made of the fact that last year there were 6,000 powerboats registered for use on just one of its lakes. To an observer on its shore any day last summer, Lake Windermere was just a noisy blur of water-skiers, jet-skiers and other powerboat-driven activities.

More than ten years ago, the Lake District National Park Authority determined that something had to be done to stop this motorised mayhem before the spirit of the place was driven out forever. However, there has been concerted opposition to any restrictions and it was only last week that a 10mph (16kph) speed limit on Windermere finally came into force, the same speed limit that has been in operation on three other lakes in the area for several years.

For opponents of speed restrictions, this latest one was the last straw. They have embarked upon a campaign of mass flouting of them (see article in magazine). Perhaps the restrictions on Windermere were particularly infuriating to them because Windermere has another claim to fame, one that is the very opposite of tranquil. It was here in the middle years of last century that the Campbells, father and son, mounted their attempts on the world water-speed record. Some were successful. Some were not. In his last attempt, in 1967, Donald Campbell, the son, lost his life. British powerboat racers claim Windermere as their spiritual home. And indeed, one of the people supporting the resistance to the speed limit is his daughter, Gina. She complains of political correctness and, like her fellow-campaigners, argues that Windermere is one of the few places in Britain where people can still practice water-sports.

Time will tell which of these two very different images of Windermere will prevail.