the
laKes - grasmere
Not for what Grasmere is
most famous, not a reason in itself for a visit, but when there
...
... you should try Grasmere
Gingerbread - it is delicious.
The ancient Parish Church
dedicated to St Oswald is not in itself a star attraction ...
... but in the churchyard
this family cluster of gravestones is one of the sites that draws
visitors from all over the world.
The other Wordsworth site
in Grasmere is Dove Cottage their home for a number of years and
open to the public with some authentic furnishings. A museum building
with displays is also adjacent.
Another relic in the churchyard,
this hardwood bench, a surprising survivor from the coronation
before last, that of King George VI.
Of similar vintage, this
Morris 8 parked outside the village chemist's shop. One survivor
of only 250,000 that were made and costing £127/10/00 in
1938 when it was built. Of similar vintage, as well, to the chap
behind the camera.
In the field across the
road from the shops a glimpse of a roe (?) deer hind casually
grazing.
I have been struck by the
thought that the older properties of say 200 years or more seem
to have a plastered finish where the Victorian and later vernacular
buildings have the unpointed random slate construction unique
to the Lakes. Here the National Trust shop in Grasmere ...
... and the Swan Hotel mentioned
by Wordsworth in a poem.
A creative use for an old
clog, mounted on a horseshoe against the typical Lakeland open-jointed
random slate house wall.
Westmorland Slate, as it
used to be known, is typically extracted from quarries cut into
the hillside, but here, on the side of Loughrigg above Rydal Water,
the quarrying has created a cave.
The water in the cave is
fed by a spring and general water seepage through the rock. It
is of interest to all and of fascination to the young.
And allows of intriguing
pictures when the light falls right, showing underwater vegetation
and reflections of above ground vegetation ...
... or from another angle
just simple reflections.
Descending from the cave,
the view, North-West over Rydal Water, toward Heron Pike.
Pelter Bridge over the River
Rothay flowing from Rydal Water to enter Windermere with the River
Brathay at Ambleside.
Looking North to Rydal Fell
and Fairfield.
The footbridge over to Rothay
Park, Ambleside.
This much photographed little
building in Ambleside, now a National Trust Information Centre,
doesn't bear out my thoughts on earlier buildings being externally
plastered.
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