Until the mid-eighteenth century Britain's barren mountains were regarded with fear by all thoughtful people. The romantic movement, with its cult of the 'sublime' and of the 'picturesque', modified this perception, and the mountainous regions of Wales, the Lake District, and even Scotland, became fashionable to visit and to admire for their 'beauty, horror and immensity'. But these tourists never left the well-beaten and recommended path.