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

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Page 127:-
ivy green,' or grey with aged lichens and mosses. On the south side, the path is carried round the protruding masses of rock on rudely-framed galleries, supported by rough timbers, thus affording the best and most striking views, because the rocks and woods on the northern side, which are the grandest, are seen to the best advantage. At one time you are on the margin of the water, beneath overhanging crags, the brook before you rushing furiously over moss-coloured fragments and stones, forming cascades of exceeding beauty, whilst the trees waving in the breeze, reveal the shaggy rock that supplies their roots with scanty nourishment. At another, you are on the brink of the precipice, looking down into a dense mass of wood, out of which the twisted branches of the rift oak, stripped of their bark, 'toss their giant arms amid the skies,' contrasting with the deep green behind, while the water is betrayed by its sparkling sheen and softened roar.
The Eden also presents some magnificent views, but the Croglin must ever be considered the chief attraction. This sketch, though not adequately describing this most romantic of streams, may give the tourist a faint idea of what he has to expect; for the most glowing description would fall short of the original. It would be as difficult to transfer the clear distinguishable depth of its shadows, the sea-green colour of its transparent waters, and the flashing light playing upon its precipices and dense foliage, to the canvas. In a small building are
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