|
|
Page 46:-
[Clap]persgate is Croft Lodge, the residence of James Holme,
Esq.;- the mansion and its woods being on the right of the
road, and the gardens stretching down to the river on the
left. Then comes the pretty hamlet of Clappersgate, so
conspicuous from the lake; and two roads branch off, leading
along each bank of the river Brathay, and meeting at
Skelwith Bridge at the other end of the valley. If the
stranger has any thought of ascending Loughrigg, some other
day, he may now see, above Clappersgate, the path by which
he may ascend or descend; a zig-zag path up the hill side,
leading to the two peaks, crowning the south end of
Loughrigg, from between which the most perfect possible view
of Windermere is obtained. That cannot, however, be done
to-day. The left-hand road should now be taken, crossing
Brathay Bridge, and passing the parsonage. When the stranger
sees the churchyard gate, he must alight, and walk up to the
church. From the rock there he commands the mountain range
from Coniston Old Man to the Langdale Pikes: the Brathay
flows beneath, through its quiet meadows; and its dashing
among the rocks, just under his feet, catches his ear;-
Loughrigg, with its copses and crags and purple heather,
rises immediately before him: and to the right he sees a
part of Ambleside nestling between the hills, and a stretch
of the lake. This churchyard has the first daffodils and
snowdrops on the southern side of its rock; and, in its
copse, the earliest wood anemones. Throughout the valley,
spring flowers, and the yellow and white broom abound.
|
Lakes Guides menu.
