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Forty Fells

Conversations about change in the Lake District mountains.

Event Date

23 October 2026

This event occurs daily from
23 Oct 2026 to 24 Jan 2027

£ Free entry

Description

Take a journey through the high places of Cumbria in this stunning large-format photography exhibition, exploring the untold stories – ancient and modern – of Forty Fells, from Scafell Pike to Pillar, Cat Bells to Blencathra, Helvellyn to Haystacks.

The exhibition features photography by International Photography Awards winner Tom McNally, whose striking images celebrate the beauty, drama and ever-changing character of the Lake District.

Delve into a storied landscape of farmers, fell-runners and foresters; Wainwright-baggers, deer stalkers and influencers; climbers, conservationists and carol singers.

Documentary profiles include tales of the country’s last slate miners, the Langdale axe factory, the Bob Graham Round, life at England’s loneliest house, the remarkable Borrowdale rainforest, Fix the Fells and the Buttermere Shepherds Meet and many more.

Rarely-seen records and artefacts – from Wainwright’s original longlist of ‘the 214’ to the game-changing ‘Thomas’ Mountain Rescue stretcher – tell their own unique stories, while our visitor wall invites you to share favourite fell memories.

Forty Fells is a visual record of the Cumbrian uplands at a time of profound change, that asks what our uplands might look like in four, forty and four hundred years’ time.

Launched to tie in with the Exhibition, the ‘Forty Fells’ book, published by Lakeland Book of the Year winner David Felton and photographer Tom McNally is available to purchase alongside framed and unframed photographs from the book.

23 October to 24 January 2027.