District. RYDAL. 49. Route. 417
From Coniston to Ambleside, see route described in the reverse direc¬
tion at p. 419. Coniston may also be made the starting-point for the com¬
bination circular tour there mentioned. — Those who wish to return from
Coniston to Bowness may vary the above route by following the Amble¬
side road to (7V« M.) Waterhead (p. 414), and going on thence by steamer.
Fb.om Windbr.mbe,b (and Bowness) to Ambleside, Grasmbke,
and Keswick, 21 M., coach several times daily in summer in 4 hrs.
(fare 6s. Gd., return 9s. 9d.; to Ambleside Is. Gd., to Grasmere
2s. Gd.). This fine drive takes the traveller through the heart of the
Lake District. The distances are calculated from Windermere station;
from Bowness (p. 412), whence the morning coaches start, addlV2M.
This is an excellent route for cyclists.
From the station the road leads to the N.W., passing the grounds
of Elleray (p. 413) on the right, and beyond the (3/4M.) cross-roads
(to Bowness on the left and Patterdale on the right) descends
through trees to (V2 M.) Troutbeck Bridge (Sun Hotel). To the left
are Calgarth Hall and Park. At (3 M.) Low Wood Hotel (p. 414)
we reach the shore of the lake, which the road skirts to (1 M.)
Waterhead (p. 414), passing below Dove Nest (p. 414; to the right).
We now ascend the valley of the Rothay (to the left a road leading
to Rothay Bridge) to (3/4 M.) Ambleside (p. 418).
Quitting Ambleside, we pass, on the left, the ivy-clad Knoll,
the former residence of Harriet Martineau, and, across the Rothay,
at the foot of Loughrigg Fell, Fox Howe, the home of Dr. Arnold.
To the right opens the small valley of the Scandale Beck, and on
the same side is the richly-wooded park of Rydal Hall. l!/4 M.
Rydal, a small village near the E. end of Rydal Water (180 ft.),
a pretty little lake, 3/4 M. long and i/4 M. wide.
To reach Rydal Mount, the home of Wordsworth from 1817 till his
death in 1850, we ascend the steep road to the right for 170 yds. A glimpse„of
the house, on a small hill behind the church, almost hidden by the trees,
is got from the coach. It contains no relics of the poet and is not shown.
The pretty little Falls of the Rydal are within the grounds of Rydal
Hall, the seat of the Le Flemings, and a guide must he obtained at a
cottage below the church, to the left. The two falls are about '/j M.
apart, and the upper one is about */< M. from the highroad.
Walkers to Grasmere may leave the highroad at Rydal, take the first
turning to the left beyond Rydal Mount, and follow a path along the W.
slope of Nab Scar (views), which joins a narrow road at White Moss and
reaches the highroad just beyond the Prince of Wales Hotel (see p. 417).
The coach-road now skirts the N. bank of Rydal Water, passing
Nab Cottage, where Hartley Coleridge (d. 1849) and Thomas De
Quincey (1785-1859) once lived. Silver Howe and Serjeant Man rise
in front. Beyond Rydal Water the road turns sharply round a wooded
knoll, and discloses a lovely *View of Grasmere lake and vale. The
fells in front (left to right) are Helm Crag, Steel Fell, Seat Sandal,
and Great Rigg. The coach skirts the lake for i/2 M., and a little
beyond the Prince of Wales Hotel turns to the left. (Walkers who
do not call at the village may save J/4 M. by keeping to the right
here, rejoining the coach-road at the Swan Hotel.) — 9 M. (from
Windermere) Grasmere, see p. 421.
Baedeker's Great Britain. 6th Edit. 27
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