To protect the purity of Thirlmere water, Manchester Corporation set about buying up all the land in its catchment area; the price it offered  was such that there was little truly local opposition to the scheme.
 In Keswick, the nearest town, over 90% of ratepayers signed a petition in favour (Keswick had suffered repeatedly from flooding after heavy rainfall in the Thirlmere area).
To the south, the only town council in Westmorland (Kendal) voted to support the scheme (hoping that a supply from the aqueduct would be a cheaper solution to their water supply problems than the new waterworks which would otherwise be needed): a local paper noted that "the inhabitants of Westmorland are not much alarmed at it  …so far they have stolidly refused to lose their tempers, or even waste many words over it".
 At a meeting to form a Lake District Association to promote tourism in the region, it was quickly agreed not to take a view on the Thirlmere scheme; otherwise the Association would break up before it was fairly started.

The aqueduct, however, was objected to by owners of land through which it would pass: under normal procedure they would be the only objectors with sufficient locus standi to be heard against the private bill necessary to authorise the scheme.
Those who objected to the change in the appearance (as they saw it destruction of the beauty) of the lake would be unable to demonstrate any financial interest in the matter.
They therefore needed to stop the project by mobilising opinion against the scheme; in 1876 this - together with economic hard times - had seen off a scheme to link the existing railheads at Keswick and Windermere by a railway running alongside Thirlmere.
 "If every person who has visited the Lake District, in a true nature-loving spirit would be ready, when the right time comes, to sign an indignant protest against the scheme, surely there might be some hope..." that Parliament would reject the Bill, urged one correspondent, who went on to urge legal protection for natural beauty, along the lines of that proposed for ancient monuments by Sir John Lubbock or for the Yellowstone area in the United States.
Octavia Hill called for a committee to organise (and collect funds for) an effective opposition.
A meeting at Grasmere in September 1877, considered a report on the Thirlmere scheme from H J Marten CE  and formed a Thirlmere Defence Association with over £1000 of subscriptions pledged.
 By February 1878, members of the TDA included Thomas Carlyle, Matthew Arnold, William Morris, Thomas Woolner R.A., John Gilbert R.A. and Derwent Coleridge.

Aesthetic opposition to the scheme was aggravated by the suggestion that Manchester Corporation would improve on nature and varied in tone and thoughtfulness: the Carlisle Patriot thought Manchester welcome to take all the water it needed, provided only that it must not "destroy or deface those natural features which constitute the glory of the Lake District" and advised against any attempt to mitigate the offence by tree-planting; Thirlmere had "..a character of its own which makes the suggested artificiality intolerable.
The rocky walls that hem it in boast no verdure: wild precipices, grand in the austerity of their barrenness cast their reflections on the mere, and by their wildness scout the municipal device of decoration.." 
 
John Ruskin denounced Manchester in general 
I am quite aware that there are many amiable persons in Manchester - and much general intelligence.
But, taken as a whole, I perceive that Manchester can produce no good art, and no good literature; it is falling off even in the quality of its cotton; it has reversed, and vilified in loud lies, every essential principle of political economy; it is cowardly in war, predatory in peace...
 and thought it would be more just if instead of Manchester Corporation being allowed to "steal and sell for a profit the water of Thirlmere and clouds of Hevellyn" it should be drowned in Thirlmere.
The Mancunian press thought it detected a similar (if less blatant) prejudice and an 'essentially Cockney agitati
To protect the purity of Thirlmere water, Manchester Corporation set about buying up all the land in its catchment area; the price it offered  was such that there was little truly local opposition to the scheme.  In Keswick, the nearest town, over 90% of ratepayers signed a petition in favour (Keswick had suffered repeatedly from flooding after heavy rainfall in the Thirlmere area). To the south, the only town council in Westmorland (Kendal) voted to support the scheme (hoping that a supply from the aqueduct would be a cheaper solution to their water supply problems than the new waterworks which would otherwise be needed): a local paper noted that "the inhabitants of Westmorland are not much alarmed at it  …so far they have stolidly refused to lose their tempers, or even waste many words over it".  At a meeting to form a Lake District Association to promote tourism in the region, it was quickly agreed not to take a view on the Thirlmere scheme; otherwise the Association would break up before it was fairly started.
The aqueduct, however, was objected to by owners of land through which it would pass: under normal procedure they would be the only objectors with sufficient locus standi to be heard against the private bill necessary to authorise the scheme. Those who objected to the change in the appearance (as they saw it destruction of the beauty) of the lake would be unable to demonstrate any financial interest in the matter. They therefore needed to stop the project by mobilising opinion against the scheme; in 1876 this - together with economic hard times - had seen off a scheme to link the existing railheads at Keswick and Windermere by a railway running alongside Thirlmere.  "If every person who has visited the Lake District, in a true nature-loving spirit would be ready, when the right time comes, to sign an indignant protest against the scheme, surely there might be some hope..." that Parliament would reject the Bill, urged one correspondent, who went on to urge legal protection for natural beauty, along the lines of that proposed for ancient monuments by Sir John Lubbock or for the Yellowstone area in the United States. Octavia Hill called for a committee to organise (and collect funds for) an effective opposition. A meeting at Grasmere in September 1877, considered a report on the Thirlmere scheme from H J Marten CE  and formed a Thirlmere Defence Association with over £1000 of subscriptions pledged.  By February 1878, members of the TDA included Thomas Carlyle, Matthew Arnold, William Morris, Thomas Woolner R.A., John Gilbert R.A. and Derwent Coleridge.
Aesthetic opposition to the scheme was aggravated by the suggestion that Manchester Corporation would improve on nature and varied in tone and thoughtfulness: the Carlisle Patriot thought Manchester welcome to take all the water it needed, provided only that it must not "destroy or deface those natural features which constitute the glory of the Lake District" and advised against any attempt to mitigate the offence by tree-planting; Thirlmere had "..a character of its own which makes the suggested artificiality intolerable. The rocky walls that hem it in boast no verdure: wild precipices, grand in the austerity of their barrenness cast their reflections on the mere, and by their wildness scout the municipal device of decoration.." 
 
John Ruskin denounced Manchester in general 
I am quite aware that there are many amiable persons in Manchester - and much general intelligence. But, taken as a whole, I perceive that Manchester can produce no good art, and no good literature; it is falling off even in the quality of its cotton; it has reversed, and vilified in loud lies, every essential principle of political economy; it is cowardly in war, predatory in peace...
 and thought it would be more just if instead of Manchester Corporation being allowed to "steal and sell for a profit the water of Thirlmere and clouds of Hevellyn" it should be drowned in Thirlmere. The Mancunian press thought it detected a similar (if less blatant) prejudice and an 'essentially Cockney agitati
Thirlmere