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Helm Crag and Steel Fell from nr Town End |
William Wordsworth was a great walker. He once set off to Penrith from Grasmere, by way of Grizedale Tarn presumably, although travellers tended to use Kirkstone Pass even though it entailed walking first to Ambleside. Both he and his sister Dorothy once walked from Pooley Bridge down the west side of Ullswater where they saw a huge display of daffodils, then over Kirkstone Pass and down to Ambleside and thence to Dove COttage.
According to one of the inhabitants of Grasmere interviewed by Canon Rawnsley, William Wordsworth often walked round Grasmere lake daily - sometimes twice. I decided to retrace, as far as possible, bearing in mind the enclosure changes that began to alter the layout of the land at the turn of the nineteenth century, the walk that William was so fond of.
It was a calm, sunny, but cold morning when I reached Grasmere around 10:20 and parked in the large
lay-by just north of Town End. I went to the bookshop and bought the
parallel texts of the 1805 and 1850 versions of The Prelude then went round
half of the museum. At lunchtime I found that the nearby café was expensive so I returned to the car for my
snack.
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William, Dora, Dora's husband Edward |
After my refreshment I
walked into Grasmere and looked at the graves in the church yard where Wordsworth and some of his family are buried. There is a cafe
on the other side of the Rothay and I have a vivid memory of sitting there with
an ice cream in 1955 when on a walking tour with the school, looking down into
the stream and watching trout in the crystal clear water. I didn't see any today.
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The cafe opposite the church |
I then set off up the Red
Bank road following the route that William walked sometimes twice a day. It shortly leads
down to the lake at Dale End, where Dorothy once said she would have liked to
build a house.
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Dale End |
I crossed the river by the footbridge below Loughrigg and
walked along through Banneriggs Wood. After crossing the road at White Moss I took the old road to Town End,
and as I did I passed the place on the right known as John's Grove, where
William's brother liked to stroll.
I reached the car
quite tired, but glad I'd done the walk. I next want to visit Rydal
Mount and then Hawkeshead and Colthouse.
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Grasmere village from below Loughrigg |
