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Day 1 Great Lakelanders

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"Lakeside" by Julius Caesar Ibbetson (1759-1817)

To enable a link with the express train service between London and Glasgow our tour party will assemble in the city of Carlisle prior to being taken by coach to a local hotel for the first nights accommodation.

The next morning, after a full English breakfast, we will depart by coach to the former home of William Wordsworth at Dove Cottage, Rydal Water. In 1799 the poet William Wordsworth went on a walking tour of the Lake District with his friend and fellow poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He fell in love with Grasmere and Dove Cottage and within a few months he had set up home there with his sister Dorothy, to live the life of a poet. It was whilst living in this inspirational setting, that  Wordsworth produced the most famous and best loved of his poems, including ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’ and where Dorothy wrote her famous ‘Grasmere Journals’. Dorothy worked as William Wordsworth secretary and in 1802 he married his childhood companion Mary Hutchinson and the first three of their five children were born at Dove Cottage. We will be taken on a guided tour of Dove Cottage and hear about the Wordsworth family’s daily life and their many famous visitors, as well as see an exhibition of some of his many works. This collection includes over 90% of Wordsworth’s surviving manuscripts and a superb collection of rare books and art by over 4,000 writers and artists. Dove Cottage also  contains many of the original features of  furniture  and portraits, which are on display in period rooms and includes the garden that he and his wife  designed.

We will then walk a short distance to Rydal Mount in which England’s most loved poet and his family lived between 1813 to 1850 and often referred to by him,   as “most beloved home“. From here, he made many excursions to find the ‘secluded temples of beauty’, as he called them, following the ravines of Rydal Head  and climbing the great, bleak crags  “fit home for wild red deer”.  Still owned by a descendant of the poet, the house contains a great deal of Wordsworth’s personal memorabilia relating and his works, and you will  see the study in which he wrote most of his books of poetry. Rydal Mount also includes over4 acres of gardens which were planted by Wordsworth himself.  Its elevated position above the valley, afforded Wordsworth fine views over Rydal Water, from which  he must have drawn a great deal of inspiration and enjoyment. Afterwards we’ll visit the bearby chuch of St. Mary’s which dates from 1824. This church was built on the site of what was originally an orchard by Lady de Flemming of Rydal Hall and Wordsorth is known to have helped chosen the site. Wordsworth was a church warden between 1833 – 1834, and he and his family worshiped regularly in the church, which has a memorial plaque dedicated to his memory.

After a morning coffee at nearby Rydal Hall we will set off for a wonderful walk along the shores of Rydal  Water to the picturesque village  of  Grasmere. This walk will be sure to inspire your creative side if not take your breath away at the many sights we’ll encounter along our way. Grasmere is one of the most visited places in the Lake District but still manages to retain a peaceful and charming character in contrast to the busy streets of Keswick or Ambleside. The church of Saint Oswald in Grasmere is named after St Oswald, a 7th Century Christian King of Northumberland, who is said to have preached on this site. It is the parish church of Grasmere, Rydal and Langdale, and each of these townships have their own separate gate into the churchyard. The 13th century nave holds several memorials, including several to the Le Fleming family of Rydal Hall, but the one that most people come to see, is of  William Wordsworth. The East window is clear and gives superb views of the fells beyond. There is a statue of the Madonna and Child by the sculptress Ophelia Bell, who married local artist William Heaton Cooper in this Church and there is a glass case near the organ which contains Wordsworth’s prayer book. At one of the entrances into the churchyard is a small building which was formerly the village school  for over 220 years from 1630. At this small country schoolhouse, William  Wordsworth, his wife and his sister all taught in the early 19th Century.

The building which is immediately adjacent to the village churchyard, is now home to the famous Sarah Nelson’s Gingerbread Shop. This delicious gingerbread which is made to a secret recipe has become a major attraction for visitors to the village and is highly recommended to try.  Another major attraction is the Heaton Cooper Studio and Gallery, founded by William Heaton Cooper in 1939 it holds permanent exhibitions of work by both William and his father Alfred Heaton Cooper (1863-1929), which were both leading watercolour painters of the Lakeland landscape. There are also sculptures by William’s wife Ophelia Gordon Bell. The family tradition continues with William’s son Julian Cooper, exhibiting oil paintings of mountainous regions of the world, his daughter Otalia, pottery and granddaughter Rebecca, mixed media. Each year from the end of July to the beginning of September at Grasmere Village Hall is the Lake Artists Society Summer Exhibition, where some 300 exhibits by local artists and  sculptors are on display.

Highlights:

Here’s a few links to Mary’s hike around Rydal with sketches from her blog:

http://marymcandrew.com/rydal-water-and-cote-how-bb-9-11-08/

http://marymcandrew.com/rydal-water-last-day-9-12-08/

http://marymcandrew.com/rydal-water-hike-9-11-08-painted-pg-1/

Pictures of hike by David Hall, Rydal to Grasmere: http://www.walkthefells.net/ONE_WALK.asp?WALK_ID=8