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Day 6 Great Lakelanders

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Derwentwater - Sanford Robinson Gifford (1823 – 1880)

We will begin the day with a tour of Wordsworth’s birthplace in Cockermouth a small town on the outskirts of the Lake District National Park. The house in which Wordsworth was born, comprises an impressively large Georgian house in the centre of Cockermouth rented by his father as part of his job as an estate manager for Sir James Lowther. The large proportions of the house are matched by its extensive gardens which adjoin the River Derwent and were the place of a great deal of enjoyment to the young Wordsworth who grew up there with his 3 brothers and sister. Regrettably both his parents died when he was a young boy and he spent the remaining years of his boyhood at the age of 13 at Hawkeshead Grammar school between 1770 and 1779.

From Cokermouth we journey to the beautiful tranquil waters of Lake Bassenthwaite to visit Mirehouse, an impressive 17th century country house and former home of the Spedding family for over 300 years. The Speddings had strong literary connections to a number of poets, including William Wordsworth, Lord Alfred Tennyson and Robert Southey as well as Thomas Carlyle and John Constable, some of whom stayed at Mirehouse. In addition to taking a short tour of the house, which contains collection of fine antique and portraits as well as a very unusual display of manuscripts including a display of letters from Wordsworth, Tennyson, Southey, Thomas Carlyle and John Constable, we will take a short  Poetry Walk of about a mile through parkland and woods, along the shores of Bassenthwaite Lake. A permanent collection of poems associated with Mirehouse have recently been added to the Poetry Walk which include poems by Tennyson, Wordsworth and Hartley Coleridge. At the centre of the extended Poetry Walk is a new rose garden commemorating the bicentenary of the births in 1909 of Alfred Tennyson and Edward FitzGerald. They met in 1835 at Mirehouse and became lifelong friends. After stretching our legs along the poetry walk we will take morning coffee in the Old Sawmill tearoom which specializes in home made Cumbrian cooking, cakes, scones, sandwiches and hot dishes are made on the premises.

From Lake  Bassenthwaite we travel to Lake Derwentwater and the small town of Keswick to visit the internationally famous Cumberland Pencil Factory. The factory is the longest established pencil factory in Great Britain having started in 1832 and remains today the largest producer of coloured pencils in the world. The Company manufactures the famous Derwent Fine Art pencils used by professional and leisure artists around the world and the company has built on a reputation of quality over many years. Legend says that this all began in the early 1500s when a violent storm in Borrowdale led to trees being uprooted. A strange black material was discovered underneath the tree roots which turned out to be graphite. Initially it was used by shepherds to mark their sheep but it was soon apparent that this substance, known locally as “wad”, could be used to mark paper as well as wool. The discovery revolutionized writing and drawing. Before the discovery of Borrowdale graphite the closest equivalent to a pencil may have been the ancient Roman stylus; a thin metal stick used for scratching on papyrus. Borrowdale graphite remains the only deposit ever found in this solid, pure form. The substance was initially thought to be a form of lead, although pencils have never contained lead.

Keswick became the pencil capital of the world and the fame of Cumberland graphite as a material for artists was spread internationally by Flemish traders. When the value of graphite was realized, the mines were taken over by the government and guarded. One of its chief uses during the reign of Elizabeth I in the second half of the 16th century was as moulds for the manufacture of cannon balls. Graphite was transported from Keswick to London in armed stagecoaches. In 1751 an Act of Parliament was passed making it an offence to steal or receive “wad”. This crime was punishable by hard labour or transportation. A cottage industry soon developed in Keswick, culminating in the formation of the UK’s first pencil factory in 1832, near the Cumberland Pencil Company’s present site. The factory has had various owners in the past 175 years and the Cumberland Pencil Company was formed in 1916. Many artists all over the world, use their famous pencils, and the company is now a major tourist attraction for the town with its museum. We will see the history of this important drawing tool valued so greatly by artists around the world. Your hostess Mary will be quick to point out they have a great shop brimming with all the varieties of pencils and art supplies for sale! Bring some spending money to fulfill your inspirations.

After lunch and an exploration of the many shops in Keswick we will board a wonderful ferry boat that will take us across the tranquil waters of Lake Derwentwater to its southern side close to the Ladore Falls, to begin our afternoon nature ramble. Lake Derwentwater is often referred to as being the  ‘Queen of the Lakes’ for its picturesque quality and richness of  light and is surrounded by some of the most magnificent scenery in the Lake District. It was described by John Keats as being shut in with rich-toned mountains. On the trip across the lake we will sail past a small wooded area named Friars Crag, a favourite childhood view of author John Ruskin. The spot is so named because of the four-acre island, “St Herberts”, in the lakes centre. Pilgrims and monks once gathered here to honour the saint, and William Wordsworth wrote a poem about the hermitage on the island.

But St. Herbert’s island may be more famously known for being the inspiration for Beatrix Potter’s “Squirrel Nutkin”. It’s the island that the little squirrels in the story, paddled their rafts and used their tails as sails to reach for gathering nuts. Our walk will follow the western shoreline of the Lake as we have a long ramble through a species rich natural woodland. There will be plenty of opportunities for sketching, painting or photographing the natural habitat and the lake, including the area’s endangered Red Squirrels. We will return back to Keswick by ferry before boarding the coach to return to the hotel via the site of an ancient stone circle “Castlerigg” which occupies a prominent position within the landscape north of Keswick.

Highlights:

Pictures of Hike – Around Derwentwater to town of Keswick.