|
|
at the elbow of that mountain mass which comprehends Skiddaw
and Blencathra as its summits, and the Dodd, Carrick and
High Pike, Bowscale, and Souter Fell, as the buttresses. The
water-mill, and the green-swelling conical fells behind,
form a pretty enough picture. At Bowscale, in the gorge of
another opening, the road crosses the Caldew, where it
issues out from its birth-place in the wild and solitary
regions of Skiddaw Forest, solitary in all but its abundance
of grouse, which is strictly preserved by the Earl of
Egremont, the lord of the manor. Mossdale, where there is a
Quakers' meeting-house, at the foot of Carrick Fell, is not
more pleasantly situated than Grisdale; indeed, the tourist
now comes upon a portion of country wild and desolate in the
extreme, yet interesting to the geologist. On the left is
Carrick Fell, its front strewed with immense masses of rock
and rivers of debris which encroach on the way below: on the
right is a dismal swamp of peat-moss, bounded by the heavy
uniform ridge of Greystoke Park on the east side. After
toiling over the common for five miles, leaving this dreary
scene, you descend for a mile through a lane bordered with
fertile lands and hedge-rows planted with trees, amongst
which the blue curling smoke betrays at intervals the
low-roofed cottages and farm-steads. Almost at the end of
this lane you pass another Friends' meeting-house and
cemetery, placed in a scene of quiet and peaceful solitude.
A wild brook washes across the road, and with the wooden
bridge for foot-passen-
|
Lakes Guides menu.
