Potter Tarn: Providing Water for Paper

If Wainwright had not seen fit to include Potter Fell in his The Outlying Fells of Lakeland, few beyond Kendal would know it existed. Potter Tarn, however, is another matter. Along with Gurnal Dubs, it is one of the fell’s more prominent tarns¹Potter Fell. Wikipedia. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter_Fell [Accessed 12 July 2025]. Both are favoured for wild swimming, though anyone entering Potter Tarn does so without permission—it is on private land.

The reservoir was constructed in 1902 to supply high-pressure water to the James Cropper paper mill in Burneside²James Cropper Plc. https://jamescropper.com/about-us/history/#:~:text=Reservoir%20built%20to%20serve%20the%20mill. A concrete dam controls the flow. Since the dam was lowered in 1990, the water level has settled at about half of what it once was. The outflow passes through another tarn, Ghyll Pool, before continuing towards the mill. Even now, Potter Fell remains vital to the operation of James Cropper Plc.’s paper and nonwoven production.

• 1
  Potter Fell. Wikipedia. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter_Fell [Accessed 12 July 2025]
• 2
  James Cropper Plc. https://jamescropper.com/about-us/history/#:~:text=Reservoir%20built%20to%20serve%20the%20mill