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as it went. But a much larger operation is required. There
is a weir below Newby Bridge, to serve a corn mill. Now, the
days of weirs and watermills are coming to an end. In these
days of steam engines it is not to be endured that hundreds
of acres should be turned into swamps, and hundreds of lives
lost by fever, ague, and rheumatism, for the sake of a
waterpower, which pays perhaps thirty pounds or forty pounds
a-year. We say this of watermills generally; and in regard
to the need of sufficient arterial drainage, we speak of the
shores of Windermere in particular. The expense of carrying
off the utmost surplus of the waters in the wettest season
would be presently repaid, here as anywhere else, by the
improved value of the land and house property, relieved from
the nuisance of flood.
The Swan Inn at Newby Bridge is exceedingly comfortable; and
the charges are very moderate. The stranger will have to
come again, on his way to Furness, at all events, and
perhaps in some trip to Hawkshead; or when making the
circuit of the lake by land. Now, he merely calls for lunch
or tea, during the stopping of the steamer; and then he is
off again, up the lake. After the Ferry and Bowness, the
next call is at Lowwood inn, where there are sure to be
passengers landing or embarking. Between Bowness and Lowwood
inn, Rayrigg has been seen, beside the little bay; and then
Ecclerigg, with its overshadowing trees, and pretty pier. It
is inhabited by Richard Luther Watson, Esq., grandson of the
late Bishop of Llandaff. Just above Lowwood, high up on the
wooded side of Wansfell, will be seen Dove Nest, once the
abode of Mrs.
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