Wednesday 4th August 1819
Wednesday Aug 3rd (sic) We breakfasted at Ambleside after riding six miles by the
side of the Lake. As we proceeded along the banks the scene became more & more beautiful exhibiting a fine view Langdale Pikes & a chaos of other fine mountains. The Salutation Inn at Ambleside is good after breakfast we saw Mr Green’s collections of pictures of the Lakes all painted by himself some of them are beautifully executed though I think his foregrounds are generally too heavy; we then walked a ¼ of a mile through a wood to a Waterfall called Stock Gill Force in a very romantic situation but there having been no rain this fall was very narrow. The best view of it is gained from the
bottom we then proceeded on an excellent rode to Keswick but left the carriage to visit some more waterfalls at Rydal Park the seat of Lady Flemming our guide (a very clever old woman) first conducted us to a small cascade seen through the windows of a Summer house. it is a sweet little scene in miniature we then surveyed the Rydell Fall after walking a long way up a steep hill. through a wood we had a good view of it which in wet weather must be very fine as the water falls a great height at the top there are seats placed which we found very acceptable returning to our Carriage we soon caught a view of Rydall
Water a lake a mile long it communicates with Grasmere Water a most lovely scene presents itself the margins are all cultivated bounded by immense mountains but all is quietness & peace. Helme Crag has a fine effect seen from here we next arrived at Dumail raise stones a wall built by the Saxon Edmund to immortalize the downfall of the last King of Cumberland it is now a heap of stones here we catch a fine view of Helvellyn Leathes Water & Saddleback & Skiddaw in the distance this lake is divided in the middle by a bridge the mountains are
nearly perpendicular on each side they are very rude & uncultivated the beautiful vale of St Johns next presents itself it is I think more beautiful than any I have seen in Wales we soon after caught a fine view of Keswick situated between Derwent Water& Bassenthwaite Water bounded by an immense ?***? mountain called Borrowdale Fells Keswick is a neat little town the Royal Oak Inn is good in the evening we walked by the side of Derwent Water where we had a fine view of it there are several little promontories in the middle I was not much struck with the appearance of Skiddaw
OBSERVATIONS & COMMENTS:
Date: Lucy has erroneously used the date 3rd August, which she also used yesterday.
Ambleside is situated at the head of Windermere, England's largest natural lake.
2009: Panorama of Ambleside and Waterhead in the Lake District, Cumbria, England, as viewed from Loughrigg, west of the town. Ambleside is centre-left, and Waterhead is the smaller village on the right at the edge of Windermere. Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ambleside_%26_Waterhead_Panorama_2,_Cumbria,_England_-_Oct_2009.jpg
The name of Ambleside is derived from the Old Norse "Á-mel-sǽtr" which literally translates as "river – sandbank – summer pasture". To the south of Ambleside is the Roman fort of Galava, dating from AD 79. In 1650 the town was granted a charter to hold a market. In the reign of James II, another charter was granted for the town to collect tolls. The town's Market Place became the commercial centre for agriculture and the wool trade. The old packhorse trail between Ambleside and Grasmere was the main route between the two towns before the new turnpike road was completed in 1770. Smithy Brow at the end of the trail was where pack ponies were re-shod after their journey.
With the coming of the turnpikes, the packhorse trains were superseded by horse-drawn stagecoaches, which regularly travelled between Keswick and Kendal via Ambleside.
William Wordsworth worked in Ambleside, as Distributor of Stamps for Westmorland, from 1813, while living at Rydal Mount in the nearby village of Rydal. This government position induced Shelley to write a sonnet of mild reprimand, To Wordsworth, but it gave Wordsworth the financial security to pursue his poetry. In 1842, he became the Poet Laureate and resigned his office as Stamp Distributor.
1786: View at Ambleside. Engraving by S. Middiman after C. Powell. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEViewAmbleside15.jpg
1838: Ambleside, Westmorland. Engraving by Engleheart after G. Pickering. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEAmblesideMilking12.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambleside SEE ALSO https://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/township/ambleside
Langdale Pikes are a group of peaks on the northern side of the Great Langdale Vale. From below, they appear as a sharp rocky ridge, though they are precipitous only on their southern side; to the north, the land sweeps gently to High Raise, the parent peak of the range. The Pikes themselves include (from west to east) Pike of Stickle, Loft Crag, Harrison Stickle and Pavey Ark. England's highest mountain, Scafell Pike, can be climbed by a route from Langdale. Langdale has views of, in particular, Dungeon Ghyll Force waterfall, Harrison Stickle and Pike of Stickle. A view of The Langdale Pikes and the Langdale Boulders, lies below:
2006: Great Langdale and Copt Howe by Mark S Jobling. This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Mjobling at English Wikipedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Langdale_and_Copt_Howe.jpg
2005: Great Langdale seen from the top of Rossett Pike by Mick Knapton at English Wikipedia. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Langdale_from_Rossett_Pike.jpg
It was important in the Neolithic period for producing stone axes, and is also one of the centres of the Lakeland slate industry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Langdale
Salutation Inn has been a coaching inn since 18th century https://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/township/ambleside .
From the Trip Reporter website at https://tripreporter.co.uk/the-salutation-hotel-ambleside/
Having occupied one corner of the centre of Ambleside for more than 360 years, it is not surprising that the Salutation Hotel has acquired both a history and a reputation. Today, it is an ambitious, bright and lively spa hotel with more than 50 agreeable rooms with all the accoutrements that might be expected of a contemporary hotel in a commercially competitive era. (from https://tripreporter.co.uk/the-salutation-hotel-ambleside/ )
Mr Green: .. we saw Mr Green’s collections of pictures of the Lakes all painted by himself… “ Works by Turner and Constable nudge those of local artists, such as the lovingly detailed etchings by Wordsworth's friend Thomas Green.” https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/may/14/paintings-lake-district-jenny-uglow (See comment on our original entry, below, which corrects our attribution from Thomas to either Amos Green or William Green).
CORRECTION: We are very grateful to our reader, Pam Gould, who contacted us to point out that our reference to Mr “Thomas” Green from the Guardian article is incorrect. She tells us that “Wordsworth’s friend was the painter Amos Green (1737-1807). Dorothy and William lived at Dove Cottage from December 1799-1808. From the start, they had plans for a fence to create a front garden. Green painted their cottage after they'd erected a fence of large slates (a tradition in the area): http://collections.wordsworth.org.uk/wtweb/home.asp?page=Image%20view&id=34425 The Wordsworth Trust also have Dora Wordsworth's (William and Mary's daughter) copy of Amos Green's watercolour drawing http://collections.wordsworth.org.uk/wtweb/home.asp?page=Image%20view&id=34441 “ Pam notes that Lucy would have passed by Dove Cottage on the main road from Rydal to Grasmere and Keswick.
2005: Dove Cottage by Christine Hasman. This image was taken from the Geograph project collection. The copyright on this image is owned by Christine Hasman and is licensed for reuse under the (CC BY-SA 2.0 )Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dove_Cottage_-_geograph.org.uk_-_70618.jpg
Lucy would have passed by Dove Cottage on her way from Rydall to Grasmere and Keswick.
She adds: “Amos Green had died by the time Lucy visited the exhibition of pictures. However, William Green (also a friend of Wordsworth), had published a guide book in 1816 with engravings of his paintings, therefore it is far more likely to have been William Green's exhibition. His book is here, open at Derwentwater: https://archive.org/details/touristsnewguid01greegoog/page/n52/mode/2up ………. William Green drew Rydal Mount, Wordsworth's home from 1813, which Lucy would have seen when she visited Rydal Hall: http://collections.wordsworth.org.uk/wtweb/home.asp?page=linked%20item&objectidentity=1987.2.4 ”
2004: Rydal Mount by Richard Swales. This image was taken from the Geograph project collection. The copyright on this image is owned by Richard Swales and is licensed for reuse under the (CC BY-SA 2.0) Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rydal_Mount_-_geograph.org.uk_-_959824.jpg
In a later email Pam provides more information: “….Wordsworth lived at Rydal Mount from 1813, and by 1816 the guide books to the Lakes started listing his house as a place of interest, so it is likely Lucy's party noted it (although the trees may have denied them a good view). I've done a bit of research to check my facts about William Green. He held regular exhibitions in Ambleside, Keswick and Manchester. In 1804 he rented a room at the back of the Queens Head in Keswick as a permanent exhibition space. He was very active in the Ambleside area, where many of the local wealthy families were patrons (e.g. the Flemings of Rydal Hall), so it was almost certainly an exhibition of his paintings and etchings.”
Stock Ghyll Force is a spectacular 70 foot waterfall reached by a short walk from behind the Salutation Hotel. In spring the area under the trees is a carpet of daffodils.
Stockghyll Force, Ambleside in the Grounds of the Salutation Hotel drawn and engraved by W Banks. http://www.rareoldprints.com/p/4138
Stock Ghyll, a tributary of the River Rothay, tumbles down through a series of waterfalls to the centre of Ambleside, passing under the famous Bridge House, in the print below:. https://www.visitcumbria.com/amb/stock-ghyll-force/
Bridge House, Ambleside, Westmorlandb by Thomas Allom engraved by T Jeavons. http://www.rareoldprints.com/z/2413
Keswick: The poet Thomas Gray published an account of a five-day stay in Keswick in 1769, in which he described the view of the town as "the vale of Elysium in all its verdure", and was lyrical about the beauties of the fells and the lake. His journal was widely read, and was "an effective public relations job for Keswick". During the 18th century major roads in Cumberland were greatly improved. With the Lake District now accessible by coach the area attracted well-off visitors, particularly at times of war in mainland Europe, which made the aristocratic Grand Tour impossible there. Regular public coach services were established in the 1760s, but they were expensive. In 1800 the Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote, "It is no small advantage that for two-thirds of the year we are in complete retirement – the other third is alive & swarms with Tourists of all shapes & sizes." Coleridge had moved to Keswick in that year, and together with his fellow Lake Poets was possibly the strongest influence on the public esteem of Keswick and the Lake District. By the 19th century the number of tourists visiting Keswick during each season was estimated at between 12,000 and 15,000.
2009:Panorama of Keswick, Cumbria, England, as viewed from Latrigg north of the town.. Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC BY-SA 3.0 from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Keswick,_Cumbria_Panorama_1_-_June_2009.jpg
1815: Keswick and Skiddaw. Engraving by J. Byrne after J. Farington. R.A. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEKeswickSkiddaw.JPG
Keswick, from Castle Rock, Cumberland drawn and engraved by T C Dibdin. http://www.rareoldprints.com/p/21009
Some of the Keswick inns that catered for affluent visitors remain as hotels, including the Queen's, where Gray stayed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keswick,_Cumbria
Rydal Hall was built as the country seat of the Le Fleming baronets, and was sold with its gardens to the Diocese of Carlisle in 1970. The estate remained in the ownership of the Le Fleming family. In the mid-17th century, Sir Daniel Fleming (1633–1701) developed the landscape as an early Picturesque garden incorporating Rydal Beck and its natural waterfalls.
2007: Rydal Hall in the Lake District, England. Photograph by Jonathan Bowen at the English Wikipedia and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rydal_Hall.JPG
1835: Rydal Hall, From Fox How, Westmorland by G Pickering, Engraved by A Le Petit. http://www.rareoldprints.com/z/2402
The poet William Wordsworth moved to Rydal Mount, near Rydal Hall, in 1813 and it remained his home to his death in 1850. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rydal_Hall
The print below is entitled “A Glimpse through the Trees, Rydal Water, near the Residence of the later W. Wordsworth Esq. “
circa 1850: A Glimpse through the Trees, Rydal Water, near the Residence of the later W. Wordsworth Esq. Engraved by J. Harwood, 26, Fenchurch Street, London. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SERydalWater18.jpg
Lady Fleming; (1784-1861) Anne Frederica Elizabeth le Fleming, daughter of the 4th Baronet, Sir Michael le Fleming (died 1806 with no heir), married in 1807 her cousin Sir Daniel Fleming, the 5th Baronet and therefore would have remained at Rydal Hall all her life. ( Burkes Peerage 1953)
The Summer House ('The Grot') was designed for viewing the waterfall and became a major attraction for a succession of visiting artists and writers in the 18th and 19th century. "The Grot" at Rydal Falls is pictured below:
2008: Waterfall, Rydal Beck In the grounds of Rydal Hall by Michael Graham from geograph.org.uk. The copyright on this image is owned by Michael Graham and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Waterfall,_Rydal_Beck_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1009381.jpg
"The Grot" at Rydal Falls is described in William Wordsworth's early poem, "An Evening Walk", published in 1793 and towards the end of the Poet’s life, Christopher Wordsworth, his nephew describes their walk together from Rydal Mount:"He accompanied me to the gate and then said if I had a few minutes longer to spare he would like to show me the waterfall which was close by – the lower fall of Rydal. I gladly assented and he led the way across the grounds of Lady Fleming (Rydal Hall) which were opposite to his own to a small summer-house. The moment we opened the door the waterfall was before us. The summer house being so placed as to occupy the exact spot from which it was to be seen. The rocks and shrubbery around closing it in on every side. The effect was magical. The view from the rustic house, the rocky basin into which the water fell and the deep shade in which the whole was enveloped, made it a lovely scene. Wordsworth seemed to have much pleasure in exhibiting this beautiful retreat." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rydal_Hall
SEE ALSO: The Grot, a small viewing hut at the foot of Rydal Falls is one of the most famous landmarks in the Lakes, the hut has been here since 1668 and is thought be Britain’s first ever ‘viewing station’ that has inspired poets and artists for centuries. Sadly, the building is no longer open to the public.http://www.lancashirelife.co.uk/out-about/places/6-beautiful-waterfalls-in-the-lake-district-1-5404176
Rydal Water: The waters of the southern half of the lake are leased to the National Trust, whilst those of the northern half belong to the estate of Rydal Hall. Navigation is prohibited, except for residents of Rydal Hall.
2006: Eastern End of Rydal Water by Mick Garratt from the Geograph project collection. The copyright on this image is owned by Mick Garratt and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rydal_Water.jpg
Rydal Water drawn and engraved by W Banks. http://www.rareoldprints.com/z/2214
2007: Rydal Water by Noface1 at English Wikipedia.This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Noface1 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cumbria_2007_035.jpg
Numerous walks are possible in the surrounding hills, as well as a walk around the lake itself, which takes in Dove Cottage and Rydal Mount, both homes to William Wordsworth, and Rydal Cave, a former quarry working. At the western end of the lake, steps lead to Wordsworth's Seat, which is considered to have been Wordsworth's favourite viewpoint in the Lake District. White Moss House, at the northern end of the lake, is believed to be the only house that Wordsworth ever bought. He bought it for his son Willie, and the family lived there until the 1930s. Nab Cottage overlooks the lake and it was once home to Thomas de Quincey and Hartley Coleridge, the son of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rydal_Water
Grasmere Water contains a single island, known as The Island, shown in the centre of the photograph and old print, below
2007: Grasmere Lake viewed from Lougrigg Terrace by Noface1. This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Noface1 at English Wikipedia. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Grasmere_Lake_2007.jpg
Grassmere from Loughrigg Fell by G Pickering, engraved by A Le Petit. http://www.rareoldprints.com/z/2405
In 2017 this island was bequeathed to the National Trust. This gift has particular significance to the National Trust, as the organisation was founded in response to the sale of the same island to a private bidder in 1893. Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley felt that such a location should instead be in public ownership, and soon afterwards started the National Trust with Octavia Hill and Robert Hunter.
1796: View of Grasmere Lake from a small Hill above the Village by B Rogers, artist and publisher, engraved by B.Rogers, Stafford. http://www.rareoldprints.com/z/587
The waters of Grasmere lake are leased to the National Trust. The waters are navigable, with private boats allowed and rowing boats for hire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grasmere_(lake)
Helm Crag is a fell to the north of Grasmere. Its rock outcrops ensure Helm Crag's fame. Only one can be seen from any point in the surrounding valleys, and they have a variety of names depending upon the profile seen from the vantage point. The north-western outcrop is the true summit and is variously called "The old lady playing the organ" when seen from Mill Gill (photograph below), "The howitzer" from the summit of Dunmail Raise and "The lion and the lamb" from Grasmere. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helm_Crag
2005: The "Old Woman playing the Organ" rocks, Helm Crag by James@hopgrove. This work has been released into the public domain by its author, James@hopgrove at English Wikipedia. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/HelmCragOrganWoman.jpg
Dunmail Raise is the name of a large cairn which stands on the top of the Dunmail pass.
Photograph of horse-drawn coach on Dunmail Raise, Cumbria by an unknown photographer, tinted, published by The Art Publishing Co. This image is in the public domain https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/15/Dunmailraise.jpg
2013: Dunmail Raise, an ancient cairn on the Pass of Dunmail Raise, beside the A591 road by Silence-is-infinite and published it under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Cairn_of_Dunmail_Raise.JPG
It seems to have marked an old boundary between Westmorland and Cumberland, and might have also marked the southern territorial extent of the medieval Kingdom of Strathclyde. According to local folklore, the cairn was raised over the body of a Cumbrian king named Dunmail who was slain by Saxons. The place name itself may well refer to the historical Dyfnwal ab Owain, King of Strathclyde (died 975), and seems to mean "Dyfnwal's Cairn". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunmail_Raise
Helvellyn Leathes Water: Helvellyn is the third-highest point both in England and in the Lake District and access is easier than to the two higher peaks of Scafell Pike and Sca Fell. The scenery includes three deep glacial coves and two sharp-topped ridges on the eastern side (Striding Edge and Swirral Edge).
2012: Looking down onto Red Tarn from Striding Edge, with the summit of Helvellyn and Swirral Edge beyond by Silence-is-infinite and published under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red_Tarn_and_Swirral_Edge.JPG
Among the early visitors to Helvellyn were the poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth. The view from the top is one of the most extensive over the Lake District, and on a clear day the view can also stretch from Scotland to Wales. John Keats speaks of Wordsworth "on Helvellyn's summit, wide awake…". An early casualty of the mountain was the artist Charles Gough, who slipped and fell from Striding Edge in April 1805. A small tourist industry began to grow up around the mountain, with inns providing ponies and guides as well as accommodation for the visitors, and guidebooks being published for visitors. Jonathan Otley’s guidebook of 1823 described the view from the summit and claimed it gave a more complete view of the Lake District than any other point. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helvellyn
Circa 1850: The Druids Temple near Keswick with Helvellyn in the distance. Engraving by J. Harwood, 26, Fenchurch Street, London. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEDruidsTemple18.jpg
Leathes Water is no more. It was a small natural lake named after the family that owned the land. In 1887 the north end of the lake was dammed to create a large reservoir, now named Thirlmere, to provide water to the city of Manchester. It is bordered on the east on the east by Helvellyn. https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/cumbria/countryside/lakes/Thirlmere.htm
2006: Thirlmere seen from the Steel Fell at the southern end of the lake by Mick Knapton and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thirlmere_from_high_up_on_Steel_Fell.jpg
Saddleback, now known as Blencathra, is one of the most northerly hills in the English Lake District. It has six separate fell tops, of which the highest is the Hallsfell Top at 2,848 feet.
2008: Blencathra from Castlerigg stone circle by Rob Bendall (Highfields), the copyright holder, who allows anyone to use it for any purpose, provided that the copyright holder is properly attributed. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blencathra_from_Castlerigg.jpg
For many years, Ordnance Survey listed Blencathra under the alternative name of Saddleback, which was coined in reference to the shape of the mountain when seen from the east. The guidebook author Alfred Wainwright popularised the use of the older Cumbric name, which is now used almost exclusively. Ordnance Survey currently marks the summit as ‘Saddleback or Blencathra’. It is likely that the name Blencathra is derived from the Cumbric elements *blain ‘top, summit’ and cadeir ‘seat, chair’, meaning ‘the summit of the seat-like mountain’. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blencathra
Skiddaw is mentioned in the fourth book of John Keats's poem Endymion: "…with all the stress / Of vision search'd for him, as one would look from old Skiddaw's top, when fog conceals / His rugged forehead in a mantle pale, / With an eye-guess towards some pleasant vale / Descry a favourite hamlet faint and far." and in the final lines of the poem The Armada by Thomas Babington Macaulay, Lord Macaulay: "Till Skiddaw saw the fire that burned on Gaunt's embattled pile, And the red glare on Skiddaw roused the burghers of Carlisle."
1787: A horse-drawn carriage under Skiddaw. Author Philip James de Loutherbourg or his studio. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Loutherbourg-skiddaw-1787.jpg
Skiddaw was painted by Courbould (painting below) and J M W Turner (Engraving below) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skiddaw
Skiddaw from Derwent Water, oil on canvas, by Richard Coubould (1757 - 1831). This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skiddaw_from_derwentwater_by_Richard_Corbould.jpg
1833: Skiddaw engraving by William Miller after Turner published in The Poetical Works of Sir Walter Scott, Bart. Vol xi. Each Volume to have a Frontispiece and Vignette Title-page from designs taken from real scenes by J.W. Turner, R.A. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or less. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skiddaw_engraving_by_William_Miller_after_Turner_R513.jpg
2017: Keswick and Skiddaw, seen from the summit of Walla Crag by Antiquary, the copyright holder of this work, and published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Keswick_and_Skiddaw.jpg
The view is as panoramic as might be expected, given Skiddaw's topographic prominence. From High Man the north east quadrant is filled by the quiet fells of Back o'Skiddaw, with the Border hills, the Cheviots and the North Pennines behind them. To the south east are Blencathra, the Far Eastern Fells and the Helvellyn range; behind these are vistas of the Yorkshire Dales and Forest of Bowland. The Coniston Fells are visible directly to the south. On the other side of South Top is a fine view of the Scafells, Western and North Western Fells, with a portion of Snowdonia visible between Kirk Fell and Pillar. The Isle of Man is visible 60 miles (97 km) away, as are the Mourne Mountains 120 miles (190 km) away (on exceptionally clear days). The final quarter is taken up by the coastal plain and the distant Solway Firth, backed by the hills of Galloway such as Merrick, Criffel and Broad Law. Goat Fell on Arran can be seen at an angle of 313 degrees, 105 miles (169 km) away. The most distant view is Slieve Meelmore in Mourne, 120 miles (190 km) distant. By moving to South Top a superb view of Borrowdale can be brought into sight.
St John’s in the Vale sits to the south of Blencathra and to the west of the long Helvellyn ridge and is usually visited only as a short cut from Threlkeld on to the main spine road between Keswick & Windermere. This is a shame because it is an exceptionally attractive glaciated valley which is certainly worthy of further exploration. https://where2walk.co.uk/walks/lake_district/st-johns-in-the-vale/
Derwent Water lies in the valley of Borrowdale and immediately south of Keswick. There are several islands within the lake, one of which is inhabited. Derwent Island House, an 18th-century residence, is a tenanted National Trust property open to the public on five days each year. It is believed to be the last remaining native habitat of the vendace (Coregonus vandesius) fish
1792: A View of Derwentwater in Cumberland by G Morland published by T Gowland. http://www.rareoldprints.com/p/11992
Circa 1850: Derwent Water & Keswick from Skiddaw. Engraving by J. Harwood, 26 Fenchurch Street. https://antique-prints-maps.com/acatalog/ref1.php?imagefile=../largeimages/SEDerwentwater18.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derwentwater
Bassenthwaite Lake is one of the largest water bodies in the Lake District and is the only body of water in the Lake District to use the word "lake" in its name, all the others being "waters" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassenthwaite_Lake
Derwent & Bassenthwaite Lake, Keswick & Skiddaw in the Distance, Cumberland.http://www.rareoldprints.com/p/2418
Borrowdale Fells: Most of the mountains at the head of Borrowdale, including Scafell Pike and Great Gable, are part of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group, a geological development from the Ordovician period. The Borrowdale Valley rises in the central Lake District, and runs north carrying the River Derwent into the lake of Derwentwater. The waters of the river have their origins over a wide area of the central massif of the Lake District north of Esk Hause and Stake Pass. These origins include drains from the northern end of Scafell, Great End, the eastern side of the Dale Head massif, the western part of the Central Fells and all the Glaramara ridge. Near Rosthwaite the side valley of Langstrath joins the main valley from Seathwaite before the combined waters negotiate the narrow gap known as the Jaws of Borrowdale. Here it is flanked by the rocky crags of Castle Crag and Grange Fell. The valley then opens out around Grange before the river empties into Derwentwater, overlooked by Catbells, Skiddaw and Walla Crag. The B5289 road runs down the full length of the valley, and at the southern end crosses the Honister Pass to Buttermere. At the heart of the valley is the village of Rosthwaite. Some more Borrowdale villages include Stonethwaite, Seatoller, Seathwaite, and Grange. Grange Fell is a small fell in the English Lake District in the county of Cumbria, situated in the Borrowdale valley overlooking the villages of Grange in Borrowdale and Rosthwaite. It is owned by the National Trust and was one of its first acquisitions in the Lake District in 1910; the fell was purchased by public subscription as a memorial to King Edward VII at the bequest of the King’s sister Princess Louise, who then was President of the Trust. The magnificent viewpoint of King's How was named after the King as a memorial. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grange_Fell
2006: Grange Fell as seen from Rosthwaite in Borrowdale, King's How is to the left and Brund Fell to the Right by Mick Knapton at English Wikipedia. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grange_Fell
Royal Oak Inn: Concise Description of the English Lakes by Jonathan Otley (1823) states: Keswick ... The principal inns are the Royal Oak and Queen's Head; ...... Post chaises, ponies, and jaunting cars may be had at the inns, with experienced guides for excursions by land; and neat pleasure-boats with intelligent boatmen for the water. http://www.geog.port.ac.uk/webmap/thelakes/html/lgaz/lk13136.htm SEE ALSO: The Royal Oak started life as an 18th century coaching inn, and, through the years, has played host to well-known literary figures. It was here that Sir Walter Scott wrote part of his ‘Bridal of Triermain’ and other literary greats such as Lord Tennyson and Robert Louis Stevenson were frequent visitors too. https://www.royaloakkeswick.co.uk/explore/about-us/
Can you help us?
Transcription problems: As untrained transcribers we sometimes experience problems interpreting some of Lucy’s writing. We have a problem deciphering one section today:
bounded by an immense ?***? mountain called Borrowdale Fells Lucy has placed a superscript word between immense and mountain - was this an unintended scribble or are we missing a small adjective? 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?