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We are now upon the verge of a tract bearing the name of Skiddaw
Forest, although without a tree. Here the river Caldew takes its
rise; and a keeper's lodge has been built by the Earl of Egremont
for the protection of the grouse with which the heath is well
stocked. A new view to the northward now opens to us, over the
narrow part of Solway Frith, into Scotland; and we descry the
long looked for pile upon the summit of the mountain. Following a
beaten track, we leave a double-pointed hill on our left, beyond
which, succeeds another steep ascent of 500 feet, where we
suddenly regain a view of Derwentwater and the mountains beyond
it. At the top of this steep we reach the last point seen from
the valley; it is the south end of a ridge, covered with
fragments of slaty rocks; and towards its further end lies the
object of our journey, which is marked by a large pile of stones,
with a central staff 30 feet high, erected in 1826 by a
detachment of the ordnance surveyors. Here the lake of Derwent
and vale of Keswick are hid from us; but our attention is now
arrested by more distant objects.
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