button to main menu  Martineau's Complete Guide to the English Lakes, 1855

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Page 49:-
of the pools which make up the lake. From their opposite shore rise the hills, height above height, range beyond range. To the left lies Loughrigg Tarn, and, in the distance, Windermere, with Wray Castle prominent on its height, and the Lancashire hills closing in the view. It is a singular prospect, at once noble and lovely; and the comfortable lodgings at High Close farm are in request accordingly.
  Red Bank
  Grasmere

The car is waiting where the traveller left it; but he had better walk for half-a-mile or so,- the descent of Red Bank being very steep. The great mountain that swells so grandly above the rest before him is Helvellyn. The lake that opens below is Grasmere, with its one island, made up of green slope, black fir clump, and grey barn. At the further end lies the village, with its old square church tower, beneath whose shadow Wordsworth is buried. The white road that winds like a ribbon up and up the gap between Helvellyn and the opposite fells is the mail road to Keswick, and the gap is Dunmail Raise. The remarkable and beautiful hill behind the village is Helm Crag; and its rocky crest forms the group called the Lion and the Lamb. The long white house, near the foot of Helvellyn, is the Swan Inn, whence Scott, Southey, and Wordsworth, set forth on ponies for the ascent of the mountain: and behind it rises the path by which pedestrians come from Grasmere to Patterdale, by the margin of Grisedale tarn, the mountain tarn of the wild boar, as the words properly signify. To the left of Helm Crag, a deep valley evidently opens. That is Easedale; and there our tourist is to go to-day. Meantime, let him
gazetteer links
button -- Grasmere
button -- Grisedale Tarn
button -- Helm Crag
button -- High Close
button -- (island, Grasmere)
button -- Ambleside to Keswick
button -- -- (station, Red Bank)
button -- Swan Hotel
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