Monday 2nd August 1819
August 2nd After breakfast we started for Furness about eight miles from Ulverston the country began to ?have? a most romantic appearance and by ascending a rock to the right we attained a fine view of Coniston water the beautiful scenery increased as we rode along the banks
the whole length of this lake is six miles and the greatest breadth three quarters of a mile. There are two promontories which project far into the lake one is covered with fine trees when the lake is high both are insulated; on other side the borders of Coniston are terminated by steep mountains covered with verdure which the glassy Lake reflects when calm & wears more the appearance of embankment the ?only? thing I can describe we dined at Water Head & while dinner was preparing rowed down the lake from the south end but it has not so fine
appearance from this end on account of the mountains gradually decreasing at 3 o’clock we proceeded on our journey we passed by Esthwaite water 2 miles in length & ½ a mile in breadth surrounded on the north by craggy mountains which much resemble Wales this lake produces no ??carp?? though connected with Windermere 2½ miles on. this lake which is the largest being 13 miles in length presented itself it does not appear to be ?terminated? by such high mountains as Coniston though the borders were very beautiful being largely cultivated & interspersed with woods in which are several neat little mansions
this lovely scene was incased by the reflections of the moon by the water which was nearly full we crossed in a small boat to Bowness where there is an excellent Inn
OBSERVATIONS & COMMENTS:
Coniston Water is the 3rd largest lake in the Lake District https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coniston_Water
Coniston Water. Aquatint http://www.rareoldprints.com/p/2911
1785: Coniston Lake Engraving by S. Middiman after F. Wheatly. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEConistonLakeMiddiman11.jpg
2001: Coniston Water as seen from Holme Fell, by Mick Knapton, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license and sourced at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coniston_Water_from_Holme_Fell.jpg
Waterhead Pier, Ambleside https://www.visitcumbria.com/amb/waterhead-pier/
Note the rowing boat on the lake in front of the Waterhead Hotel in the print below - the Coplands rowed on the lake whilst waiting for dinner.
1841: Waterhead Hotel, Coniston. From Vol 1, Harwood's Scenery of Great Britain http://www.rareoldprints.com/z/2429
Esthwaite Water is one of the smaller and lesser known lakes in the Lake District. It is situated between the much larger lakes of Windermere and Coniston Water and is known for its excellent fishing, particularly trout and pike.
Esthwaite Water from Ulverstone Road, Drawn and engraved by W Banks http://www.rareoldprints.com/z/4122
2004: Esthwaite Water, by Michael Parry, from the Geograph project collection. The copyright on this image is owned by Michael Parry and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Esthwaite_Water_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2160.jpg
1836: Windermere, Esthwaite Water & Ambleside, from Rydal Park. Engraved by Engleheart after G. Pickering. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEWindermereEsthwaite12.jpg
The lake was mentioned as the location where William Wordsworth conversed with a friend in Wordsworth's poem, "Expostulation and Reply," part of Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads and, in the same collection, it is the location for "Lines Left Upon A Seat In A Yew-Tree." Wordsworth also mentions it in his Prelude in line 267: "Make green peninsulas on Esthwaite's Lake", and also at line 570: "From Esthwaite's neighbouring lake the splitting ice". The poem "The vale of Esthwaite" (1787) was Wordsworth's first effort at sustained composition. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esthwaite_Water
Bowness-on-Windermere grew from a small fishing village during the 19th century to a town living almost entirely off tourism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowness-on-Windermere
1846: The Village of Bowness. Windermere. Engraved by J Harwood. http://www.rareoldprints.com/z/4116
1816: Windermere from below Bowness, looking to the North. Engraving by J. Scott after J. Farrington. R.A. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEWindermereBownessNorth.JPG
2007: View of Windermere from Bowness-on-Windermere, by Paul Jenkins. This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Jenkinsp at English Wikipedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Windermere0.jpg
Excellent Inn: Probably Storrs Hall Hotel. Since it was built in the late 1700s Storrs Hall hosted renowned Lake District poets William Wordsworth and Robert Southey stayed here. It is reported that Wordsworth recited his famous Daffodils poem in the drawing room.
Circa 1840: Storrs Hall, Windermere Lake, Westmorland, Engraved by J. Starling after T. Allom. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEStorrsHall.JPG
From the Storrs Hall Website, https://www.storrshall.com/stay/about-storrs-hall/history-of-storrs-hall/
View from the grounds of Storrs Hall https://www.storrshall.com/explore/explore-our-grounds/
The mansion has also played host to a stream of famous guests from art and culture, industry and politics. The famous Children’s Author Beatrix Potter attended many parties here and Winston Churchill is also reported to have stayed at Storrs Hall Hotel. https://www.storrshall.com/
Can you help us?
Transcription problems: As untrained transcribers we sometimes experience problems interpreting some of Lucy’s writing. We have a problem deciphering four sections today:
began to ?have? a most romantic appearance - We suspect that Lucy has not formed the word “have” clearly but would like confirmation from an expert
wears more the appearance of embankment the ?only? thing I can describe. We dined : We are not sure whether we have guessed the word “only” correctly - probably not. Help please!
much resemble Wales this lake produces no ?carp? though : Could the over-written word be “carp” ? The crossed out word below it may read “fish”, and if that is so she may have realised that there were indeed fish, but no carp in the lake. Help please!
in length presented itself it does not appear to be ?terminated? by such high mountains as : Is this terminated?? Lucy has squeezed the word in at the end of the line and the last few letters are incomplete or jumbled. Again, help please!
Old Regency Prints, Pictures an Coaching maps: Do you have access to any prints or pictures showing what town and country would have looked like when Lucy travelled through? Any illustrations of what she would have seen in 1819 will enliven our research.
New Pictures: Do you have any modern pictures of the streets, buildings, gardens and views that would enable us to see the changes that two centuries have wrought?