button to main menu   Ford's Description of the Lakes, 1839/1843

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Page 41:-
  Rydal Mount
  William Wordsworth

Above the hall is Rydal Mount, the residence of William Wordsworth, Esq. looking down the vale of Ambleside and Windermere on the one side, and of Rydal on the other; the house and gardens are in the best taste, the latter having been laid out by the poet himself. Ivy Cottage on the one side, is the beautiful creation of the sportive genius of Dr. Tilbrooke, formerly a Fellow of Peter House.

  Rydal Water
RYDAL WATER
Is a small lake, two miles from Ambleside, about one mile long, and half a mile broad, and surrounded closely on all sides by lofty fells. The shores are picturesque, having a rocky promontory here and there, and bays in which the reeds wave over the floating flowers of the lily. The wooded islets add to its beauty. Pike, perch, eel, and trout, are found in its waters, which have been at different times the graves of rash and thoughtless skaters.
At the White Moss Slate Quarry, the new and old roads to Grasmere separate. Pursuing the new road, which winds through a narrow defile, having the Rothay on the left hid amidst a profusion of underwood, a sudden bend introduces the traveller to the Dale and Lake of Grasmere, on whose shores the road lies for a small distance.

  Grasmere
GRASMERE.
This water is oval, and lies at the south end of an oval valley. Its dimensions are a mile one way,
gazetteer links
button -- "Grasmere" -- Grasmere
button -- "Ivy Cottage" -- Ivy CottageIvy Cottage
button -- Ambleside to Keswick
button -- "Rydal Mount" -- Rydal Mount
button -- "Rydal Water" -- Rydal Water
button -- "White Moss Slate Quarry" -- White Moss Slate Quarry
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