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Page 175:-
sycamores and poplars which overshadow its roof, and rustle
before the door. Then he comes to the hollow where lies the
tarn,- Small Water. Here he will rest again, sitting among
scattered or shelving rocks, and drinking from this pure
mountain basin. Arrived at the top, he loses sight of
Mardale, and greets Kentmere almost at the same moment. The
dale behind is wild as any recess in the district: while
before him lies a valley whose grandeur is all at the upper
end, and which spreads out and becomes shallower with every
mile of its recession from the great mountain cluster.
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When he has gone down a mile, he finds that he is travelling
on one side of Kentmere Tongue,- the projection which in
this and most other valleys, splits the head of the dale
into a fork. When he arrives at the chapel, he finds that
there is a carriage-road which would lead him forth to
Staveley and Kendal. But he is probably intending to go over
into Troutbeck: so he turns up to the right, and pursues the
broad zigzag track which leads over the Fell, till Troutbeck
opens beneath him on the other side. Before beginning the
ascent, however, he will note Kentmere Hall,- the birthplace
of Bernard Gilpin, in 1517. If familiar with the old
description of the district, he will look for Kentmere Tarn,
and wonder to see no trace of it. It is drained away; and
fertile fields now occupy the place of the swamp, reeds and
shallow water which he might have seen but a few years ago.
While this tarn existed, the mills at Kendal were very
irregularly supplied with water. Now, when the streams are
collected in a reservoir, which the traveller sees in coming
down
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