Mark Goodge ) gurgled happily, sounding
much like they were saying :

"Are there any lakes in the Lake District?" might seem silly, but
"how many lakes are there?" is a fairly common trick question.

[one, Bassenthwaite]

So in what sense is, say, Coniston Water not a lake? Is it just that
it doesn't have 'lake' in the name, or is it geologically different
soehow?

It is just the name. Technically, of course, there's a difference
between how many "lakes" there are in the Lake District (answer: lots)
and how many "Lakes" are in the Lake District (answer: one), but if
you get that pedantic then it ruins a nice trivia question :-)

Surely, if there was a several of "Lakes", it'd be called the Lakes
District? The answer's in the name...