Pooley Bridge Ullswater

Summary

A small village at the northern end of Ullswater in the Lake District — a bridge over the Eamont, a village square, a steamer pier, and the long lake stretching south through the high Cumbrian fells.

About this location

Pooley Bridge is at the northern end of Ullswater, the second-largest lake in the Lake District, where the River Eamont leaves the lake towards the Eden Valley. The village is small — a pub, a few cottages, a market cross, and the steamer pier where the Ullswater Steamers (Victorian-era wooden steamers, still in service) call on their route up the lake to Glenridding.

The lake itself stretches 9 miles south through an enclosed valley of high Cumbrian fells — High Street (a Roman road summit) to the east, Helvellyn to the west. The combination of still lake water, fell-side reflection, and the narrow valley gives a specific visual quality that is recognisable as Lake District and distinct from other English lake landscapes.

For productions, Pooley Bridge and Ullswater give access to the full Lake District lake-and-fell landscape from a small settlement base — steamer pier, village, and then the open lake south. Lake District National Park Authority handles commercial filming consents for the national park.