Wordsworth, the Lake District and Driving

By Amos, Posted under Marci's email

This day started with and early breakfast at 7:45 AM. Marci was I think still a little shell shocked because of the driving the day before and I suppose I was too. I think she would have rather had a shorter drive for a 2nd day but I had wanted to go to the Lake District not on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday due to the crowds. I am glad we did go because it was crowded enough. We are staying at Holmhead Guest house on Hadrian’s Wall. The owners are actually new, only 4 months, and the place seems pretty nice. There was another single woman named Linda staying. Well we saw a “Gatoronopoly” which is Monopoly with things from the University of Florida on it. We asked about and turns out the Allan and Judy, the owners, are good friends with people who live in Alachua, Florida only about 15 miles from Mom and they visit frequently, it sounds like annually.
This was followed by a lot of discussion of driving and where we should go and how to do it. Allan offered some maps and Linda chimed in because she drives all over the area. She later gave us her card and told us she was inspecting the Guest House since it was under new management and that was what she did for a living. We were surprised but she said we should call if there were any problems on the road.
We did drive a long way around to a place called Alston the highest market village in England. It is high in the Pennies Mountains I would say at about 2500 feet. This was pretty desolate up in the high country will coolness, few trees lots of wind and the clouds. We walked around the town got some bread and food for lunch and made a circuit. I have to say I found the place kind of spooky. I think that the atmosphere is what I might expect from a Bronte Sister’s novel and if you lived there long you could be infected with the gloom.
We then drove over the pass down into Eden valley and it was like night and day. Why would you live up there in Alston? Well if all the good land was taken up and you did have room for sheep or work I guess that might be one. Also in Alston which was tiny there was a Catholic, Methodist, Quaker and Presbyterian church. I wonder if religious dissenters from the Church of England had moved there centuries ago when this would have been more of a problem. Marci is driving really well and I am navigating the way. We then go on into the Lake District. The mountains and lakes are amazing and beautiful. Although I know that it will be busy we drive down to Dove Cottage and Grassemere. Twice we had to wait in a parking lot for people to leave to get a space. We walked around the village and found a place in the Wordsworth memorial park to eat lunch and then went over to Dove Cottage to see where he lived. There was a tour of the house and the museum. We learned that he had terrible handwriting and he would compose in this head and then dictate his poems to his sister and later his wife. They would write things down and he would correct sometimes pasting pieces of paper over places if the corrections got to messy. His famous poem The Prelude he worked on for nearly 50 years and it was published after he died. He was a connector and anyone who was a writer, artist or anyone that was important in that time would come to visit Wordsworth or he them. A funny storey the guide told us was the Sir Walter Scott (Ivanhoe) liked to visit but didn’t like the food which was one good meal and then two other meals of porridge. He would awaken early climb out his window and go to the pub for some proper breakfast and then come back climb back in the house and eat the porridge offered. Marci in the museum was quite patient and then both Lydia and I saw that she was listening to the Daffodils poem and got a little alarmed since this had gotten upset when I read it to her at home. Clearly my delivery is powerful bad.
After that we drove back up the other side of the lakes and then stopped at the Castle Rigg Stone Circle which was a lot like Stonehenge but much smaller and we could walk around and touch the stones and then climb around the stone walls and check on the stiles across the walls. Then we started driving back around the long new M6 which is the Interstate. Mom and Lydia and fell asleep and on the way back we stopped and bought some food for picnic supper.

Marci helped us all call and check on people back home and Lydia and I went out and did some more walking along the wall and she sheep and ruined castle. I think we will sleep well after all this walking and traveling.