Chapter 1 : Romance and Poetry in the Lake District The Lake District did not only inspire poets. The region also appears in many paintings. Prior to the late 17 th century, mountain landscapes were an unpopular subject, thought to be foreboding and unpleasant. The Romantic Movement and The Lake Poets Historical Background Romanticism, which was the leading literary movement in England for more than half a century, was caused by great social and economic changes. The Industrial Revolution, which had begun in the middle of the 18th century, was no sudden change from home manufacturing to large-scale factory production. Enclosing common land had begun in the 16th century, but in the second half of the 18thcentury it became rapid and spread all over Britain. The peasants, deprived of their lands, were forced to go to work in factories. Mines and factories had changed the face of the country. But mechanization did not improve the life of the common people. Social evils were clearly seen by the people: Human beings tad turned into parts of machines, they were desperate at the loss of personal freedom. The suffering of the new class, the proletariat, led to the first strikes, and workers took to destroying machines. Workers, who called themselves Luddites after Ned Ludd who in a fit of fury broke two textile frames, naively believed that machines were the chief cause of their sufferings. Under the influence of the French Revolution the Irish peasants plotted a rebellion against English landlordism. It broke out in but was cruelly downed in blood. The British government took the lead in the counter-revolutionary wars against France. The belief of progressive-minded people in the ideal nature of the bourgeois system was broken. As a result, a new humanist movement sprang up towards the close of the 18th century. Romanticism, Its Passive and Revolutionary Treads Romanticism was a movement against the progress of bourgeois civilization, which had driven thousands of people to poverty and enslaved their personal freedom. Writers longed to depict strong individuals, endowed with grand and even demonic passions. The romanticists made emotion, and not reason, the chief force of their works. This emotion found its expression chiefly in poetry. Some poets were seized with panic and an irresistible desire to get away from the present. These poets are called the Passive Romanticists. They spoke for the English farmers and Scottish peasants who were ruined by the Industrial Revolution. They idealized the patriarchal way of life during the Middle Ages, a period that seemed to them harmonious and peaceful. Their motto was "Close to Nature and from Nature to God", because they believed that religion put man at peace with the world. They were also called the Lake Poets after the Lake District in the north-west of England where they lived. The Lake District attracted the poets because industry had not yet invaded this part of the country. These poets had similar tastes in art and politics, they founded a literary circle. Its influence was felt on some other writers of the time. In Wordsworth wrote a poem "Guilt and Sorrow". It is about a homeless sailor who was driven to crime, and a lonely woman who had lost her husband and three children in the war, all suffer from the cruelty of the law, but the only comfort Wordsworth offers is religion. The Lake poets urged a return to nature. Wordsworth was a great master of description. We feel his love for nature and also his great alarm at nature being spoiled by the invasion of industrialism. Coleridge and Southey and four other enthusiasts wished to found a domestic republic in America, where people could enjoy a free life. Want of money prevented this Utopian scheme. In Wordsworth and Coleridge published a volume of "Lyrical Ballads". In his ballad "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" Coleridge expressed the idea that man is a helpless creature living at the mercy of supernatural forces. The sea is depicted as something monstrous that cannot be overcome, something fatal that brings woe and death. It is a fantastic story of a voyage told by an old sailor to a passer-by who was going to a wedding. Coleridge was the most talented of the Lake Poets, but he did not give his talent full development because of the lack of self-discipline. He believed poetry could be written only under a mystical inspiration and the poet should follow his intuition. Coleridge stopped writing poetry in his early thirties and devoted himself to criticism. The Lake Poets introduced into poetry short forceful words and constructions of everyday speech. They brought sound and colour into verse. They appreciated folklore and national art and insisted that poetry should be linked with folk traditions of a nation. All of them were humanists. Another group of poets distinguished themselves by the revolutionary spirit which they brought into poetry. They tried to look ahead and see the future. They kept an eye on all political Page 1
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Chapter 2 : The Lake Poets Critical Essays - blog.quintoapp.com The Lake Poets were a group of English poets who all lived in the Lake District of England, United Kingdom, in the first half of the nineteenth blog.quintoapp.com a group, they followed no single "school" of thought or literary practice then known. Every year more than 18m people take a trip there to enjoy the stunning scenery. The region quickly became fashionable among aficionados of the picturesque. This meant that artists could sketch drastically different views of the same scene. Thomas Allom, the English architect, artist, and topographical illustrator captured the changes in mood at Ullswater in the s. Guides to the Lakes, Author provided From peaceful and picturesque and to stormy and sublime. Guide to the Lakes. Some of these writers, notably Wordsworth and Martineau, even published guidebooks which proved highly popular and influential. Writers including Beatrix Potter and Arthur Ransome â of Swallows and Amazons fame â brought the region to life for new generations in famous works that are still loved by children and adults. Visitor hotspots Thanks to our new research, we now know that not unlike today visitors to the Lake District in the past mainly devoted their attention to places near to Bowness, Ambleside and Keswick, as well as the heart of Wordsworth Country around Grasmere. Our work involved looking at publications by famous Lakeland writers, such as the Wordsworths, and by important but less well-known authors, like Celia Fiennes an ancestor of Ralph and Ranulph. To find out where these literary travellers of the past visited in the Lake District our research used exploratory mapping methods to analyse a collection of historical writing about the region. Our research maps show where writers dared to roam. And studying the places these works mention can tell us a great deal about how travellers experienced the Lake District in the past â and how they have influenced understandings of nature and landscape to this day. Off the beaten track While our research shows that the places most Lake District visitors travelled in the 18th and 19th centuries are still among the more popular tourist haunts today, we can also learn a great deal from considering the blank spaces on these maps. For instance, the mountainous region in the Western Lakes that includes the Scafell massif was less frequently discussed and visited. These sorts of localities maintained a reputation for being a wilderness â somewhere that might trap you if you went too far away from the beaten track. View of the Scafell massif from Yewbarrow, Wasdale, Cumbria. Dougsim, CC BY-NC-SA But today, the sheer number of visitors to even these more remote areas of the Lake District mean that this cherished landscape is threatened by the very thing that economically sustains it: The Three Peaks Challenge, for example, is a way many people encounter Scafell â it has been estimated that a population the size of Detroit attempts the challenge every year. These were that the effect of tourist activities be monitored, and that conservation efforts in the region be improved. It is hoped this new status will maintain the Lake District as an important place for visitors to experience the great outdoors â following in the footsteps of the great writers and artists. But more than that, hopefully it will also mean more resources, care and attention to help the landscape, and the communities that live there, to flourish. Page 3
Chapter 3 : Following the steps of the Lake Poets (a return to nature) - Aleph The beauty of the Lake District has inspired many writers, poets and photographers over the years. Famed for the magnificent scenery the area offers more than just artistic delights. Here is a landscape that can offer adventure to all, such as mountain or valley walking, climbing, cycling on country lanes or mountains, sailing or windsurfing. In addition, many of the first and second generation practitioners of Romantic poetry had a complex and not entirely easy relationship with the Lakes apart from Wordsworth. He disliked change that flew in the face of Nature: Indeed, it has been said that "the architectural axioms of building and gardening in the Lake District for the next hundred years were established by the Guide". Coleridge followed Wordsworth to the Lakes and moved into Greta Hall in This led him to resort to the Kendal Black Drop, making matters desperate. Coleridge moved out of the area in In her view the days of Romanticism were over. Associated writers[ edit ] The second generation of Romantic poets were drawn to the area by the Romantic vision of seclusion and by the perceived republican views of the older poets, but found a different reality when they arrived. Keats moved on to Scotland which provided him with the inspiration he sought and where, in particular, he felt the influence of Robert Burns. Byron did not visit the Lakes, but he ridiculed the isolation and narrowness of mind of the older Lake Poets, as well as of their abandonment of radical politics. He lived near Windermere between and and knew the older Lake Poet trio well. His poetry Isle of Palms reveals a physical response to the Lakes scenery he was an energetic walker and climber, and emphasises companionship and energy as against Wordsworthian quiet and solitude. Martineau settled in a house she had built near Ambleside in As befitted her sociology -based background, her views concentrated on the need for the Lakes to be connected more with the outside world for example, she was in favour of improved sanitation and of the new railways being set up through the district, unlike her friend Wordsworth. Her guide to the Lakes Complete guide to the Lakes, was a rather factual and clear-eyed description about what to find there and about the condition of the people. His worship of Wordsworth turned sour after De Quincey married a local girl and the Wordsworths refused to meet her. Instead, according to Nicholson, he turned more to the local dalesfolk and "he got to know the dalesmen as people, as persons, better than ever Wordsworth did. These include their contemporaries Bryan Procter, Felicia Hemans, and Walter Scott, as well as the labouring-class and slightly later John Close, who catered particularly to the growing tourist trade. John Ruskin settled in the house Brantwood, overlooking Coniston Water, in, aged 48, having visited the Lakes many times previously. Worn out in body and mind, he was looking for a restful escape, and it was this "weariness and despair that caught the sympathy of the Lake visitors. They, too, turned to the Lakes for comfort and rest," rather than for the "stimulus and excitement that had been the joy of the early travellers. A Ballad of Dorothy Wordsworth: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Page 4
Chapter 4 : The Lake District (42 books) Plagued with ill health and an addiction to opium, Coleridge left the Lake District in, leaving his home and family in the care of the third of the Lake Poets, Robert Southey. Keswick was a settlement in prehistoric times. In the C13th Edward I granted a licence for a Market here which continues today. In the Tudor era Keswick was a mining area, but since the C18th it has been a popular destination for visitors Buildings in Keswick The town has a Moot Hall or court house at the end of the main street. The building there now dates from In the s the lower floor was as a market selling meal, butter, eggs and poultry. Upstairs, the Moot Hall was a court house. Here the Lords of the Manor, the governors of Greenwich Hospital, decided on claims and arguments over land and tenure. Dating from the Model is on a scale of three inches to the mile and shows all the main features of the Lake District. It has two stages and presents up to nine of its own productions a year. The Theatre is open 52 weeks a year and is host to a variety of festivals and events. A small family owned business the Cinema has comfy seats and free coffee. And reviews say the production is as good as anywhere. The museum has undergone recent renovation and extension, and re-opened in During the Second World War pencils were adapted to hold a tiny rolled up map of escape routes from Germany. Many shops have an outdoor pursuit theme â and numerous dog-friendly pubs. It serves traditionally made breads and cakes to eat in or take away. The extensive Saturday market with around 60 market stalls sells a broad range of Lakeland goods. It is a few minutes walk from the town centre beside the river Greta. There is a fantastic play area in the Lower Park and plenty of sand for the very young to play in. There are also generous spaces for ball games or generally just running about. Upper Fitz Park is more formal with gardens and an arboretum. For many years, until family affairs separated them, Coleridge and the Wordsworths lived and worked closely. They had a creative bond based on their mutual love of hill-walking, poetry and politics. Robert Southey, spent the latter half of his life in the Lake District. In he married Mary Hutchinson, an infant-school friend, and they had five children. In Wordsworth moved to Rydal Mount, Ambleside, where he lived out his life. Much of his work was inspired by his love of travel and the countryside. The Trust is a charity which protects historic places and spaces, and art collections. It owns or has control over about a quarter of the Lake District. Rawnsley dedicated himself to protecting and preserving the countryside. He campaigned with others against the opening of a railway line to carry slate from quarries at Buttermere. This would have spoiled the unspoiled valleys in its path. The success of the campaign led to them forming the Lake District Defence Society. Walkers might like to explore part of the mile Derwentwater Walk at the Grange village end of the lake. The views of the surrounding mountains and fells are spectacular. Lake walks can be adjusted in length to suit your group. Take advantage of the Keswick Launch, which has six landing stages around the lake. It runs daily weather permitting from March to November. Keswick, boardwalk by Films42 on Pixabay The beauty of the Lake District has inspired many writers, poets and photographers over the years. Famed for the magnificent scenery the area offers more than just artistic delights. Here is a landscape that can offer adventure to all, such as mountain or valley walking, climbing, cycling on country lanes or mountains, sailing or windsurfing. For ideas on where to go visit: Page 5
Chapter 5 : Poems about: lake district - Poetry Atlas The Lake District Poets of Cumbria The Lakes are one of the most romantic places in England. The vast and stunning landscape is one of such beauty, it's impossible for anyone not to attribute it to the sensational experience of being in love. William Wordsworth Inspired by the epic grandeur of the Lake District landscape, where he was born and lived most of his life, William Wordsworth, the Victorian Poet Laureate, is the foremost of English Romantic poets. John Wordsworth came from middle class Yorkshire stock. The young Wordsworth attended school at Cockermouth between and He lost his mother when he was but eight years old, and tragically, his father followed her to the grave but five years later. William was separated from his much loved sister Dorothy and went to live with his two uncles. Dorothy was brought up by their maternal grandmother. A highly imaginative child, he was educated at Hawkshead Grammar School. In these early, formative years, the young Wordsworth developed a great love and appreciation of the Lakeland landscape, which he was to vividly retain for the rest of his life. In, Wordsworth embarked on a summer walking tour through revolutionary France. During this time he met Annette Vallon, who was to become his mistress and later bore him an illegitimate daughter, Anne Caroline. Largely influenced by the events of the French Revolution, he made an attempt to break away from the artificial diction and the neo-classical traditions of his age. William married his childhood schoolfriend, Mary Hutchinson, in, the couple moved to the village of Grasmere, where they eventually settled at Dove Cottage in the village, his sister Dorothy, to whom he remained very close, moved in with them. A tireless walker, he traversed the Lakeland fells ceaselessly on foot and wrote a pioneering guide book to the Lake District. Local tradition states that when Sir Walter Scott stayed with the tee-total Wordsworth, who would not allow alcohol in the house, he would lock the door of his room, climb out of the window and make straight for the Swan Hotel, to which ends he was driven, to obtain his daily dram of Scotch whisky. The household it is reported, on entering the inn with him, were puzzled as to why all the staff appeared to greet him as an old friend. The well tended, steeply sloping gardens were laid out by Wordsworth himself, he would often on rambles in the area, obtain wild flowers and ferns to replant there. The adjoining Wordsworth Museum, holds many of the poets original manuscripts and family portraits. They later lived at the Rectory at Grasmere, neither of these houses are open to the public. The great poets best works were written between, in, the family moved into Rydal Mount pictured right, which at first was rented from Lady Fleming of nearby Rydal Hall, but later purchased, they continued to live in the house for the rest of their lives. An avid gardener, William landscaped the gardens himself. The house returned to the Wordsworth family in, when Mary Henderson, nee Wordsworth, great-great grandaughter of William, bought Rydal Mount, opening it to the public the following year. The poet himself, a keen gardener, designed the informal garden, planting the trees carefully, so as not to spoil the views. The grounds cover four and a half acres, the highly attractive gardens containing a variety of rare shrubs, rhododendrons, daffodils and bluebells. The tour of the house commences in the oldest part of the building, which dates back to the sixteenth century. The house contains a great deal of furniture which was owned by the Wordsworths and some excellent family portraits as well as personal items such as ice skates and picnic boxes. The views of Rydal Water and the Lakeland fells from the gardens are superb. Surprisingly, William was not alone, but had been accompanied by Dorothy on the excursion to the lake. Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced; but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company: I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils. William Wordsworth died after a heavy cold turned to pleurisy on St. He was buried at St. Page 6
Chapter 6 : Lake Poets - Wikipedia At the end of the 18th Century, the Lake District became the focus of a group of young poets. One of these already had a considerable reputation as a poet; he was Samuel Taylor Coleridge who, by this time, had already produced such well-known works as "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and "Kubla Khan". Before Wordsworth[ edit ] Dove Cottage was built in the early 17th century, beside the main road from Ambleside in the south to Keswick in the north. It was probably purpose-built as a public house, and it is first recorded as the "Dove and Olive", an inn included in a list of public houses in Westmoreland in The building is constructed from local stone, with limewashed walls and a slate roof. There are four rooms downstairs, and another four upstairs. The ground floor rooms retain the oak panels and slate floors often found in well-built Lakeland houses of the period, and appropriate to their original function as drinking rooms in a public house. The fireplaces were altered in the s to burn coal rather than the traditional Lakeland peat. Wordsworth[ edit ] William Wordsworth had been born in Cockermouth in Cumberland in, and knew the Lake District well from his childhood. He moved away to study at the University of Cambridge in, and then travelled in Britain and Europe for 12 years. William Wordsworth, English poet. Although they had lived together in Somerset in and in Germany in, William wanted to find a permanent home for them together. On the ground floor, the main reception room was the "houseplace" or "kitchen- parlour ", by the main door, which contains a cooking range and window seat, used for the main daily meal. A separate kitchen was used for the more arduous task of the domestic routine, with the fourth room being a small buttery, used as a larder. The walls of the small bedroom were covered with newspapers in as an attempt at insulation later removed, but copies were put back in the s. There was no running water inside the house, and the toilet was also outside in the garden. William and Dorothy took particular pleasure in the garden and orchard behind the house, their "little nook of mountain-ground", [5] which was deliberately arranged in an informal "wild" state. William became a key member of a group of Romantic poets in the Lake District, later known as the Lake Poets. Robert Southey lived in Greta Hall in nearby Keswick. Southey and Coleridge were married to sisters, Sarah and Edith Fricker, and Coleridge himself moved his family to Keswick in Nevertheless, he returned to visit the Wordsworths in Grasmere from time to time. In later years, Thomas de Quincey became a long-term guest. Dove Cottage from the garden, circa As a result, William was able to marry Mary Hutchinson, a childhood friend, later that year. An entry in her journal from, remarking upon daffodils near Ullswater, was the inspiration for his poem " I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud " in William had condemned this house as an eyesore when it was first built, and they moved on again in to the Old Rectory in the centre of Grasmere. Finally, in, they moved to the much larger and better appointed Rydal Mount, a few miles to the south just outside Ambleside. It remains in the ownership of the Wordsworth family, and has been opened to the public since After Wordsworth[ edit ] Thomas de Quincey, a friend of the Wordsworths, took up residence in Dove Cottage in, the year after the Wordsworths left. He had often stayed with the Wordsworths since, and held William Wordsworth in high regards. De Quincey married the daughter of a local farmer, and remained in residence until His Confessions of an English Opium Eater was based on his experiences as an opium addict, and describes him relaxing at the cottage with a quart of laudanum. He upset the Wordsworth family by making alterations to Dove Cottage and more importantly, its garden. The increasing size of his family forced him to move to Fox Ghyll, but he continued to rent Dove Cottage, and store books there, until Debts eventually forced him to leave the cottage for good. In the late s, the cottage was bought by Edmund Lee, a businessman from London, for his son, an aspiring poet. The cottage became commonly known as "Dove Cottage" only after it was acquired by the Trust. Recent times[ edit ] The Wordsworth Trust has kept the cottage open to the public since July As a tourist attraction, Dove Cottage receives approximately 70, visitors a year. Wordsworth Museum[ edit ] The adjacent Wordsworth Museum, founded in and moved to a coach house nearby in, exhibits manuscripts, landscapes and portraits. The Jerwood Centre, an award-winning new building to house the collections of the Wordsworth Trust, opened near Dove Cottage in Page 7
Chapter 7 : William Wordsworth The Lake District's beauty has whetted the creativity of many a famous poet and artist over the centuries. Here's a quick rundown of some of the writers inspired by the area's vistas. So did Peter Rabbit author Beatrix Potter. Sir Walter Scott was said to have enjoyed parties and regattas at an estate on Lake Windermere. Here are five, all of which can be reached from charming Ambleside. She was a champion sheep-breeder who left 4, Lake District acresâ 60 individual propertiesâ to the National Trust. Hill Top Farm and its gardens are open to the public, with only a few folks allowed into her home at once. For the Best View: His grave in St. For the Particularly Energetic: Afterward, ferry across Windermere and wander the shore northward through the Crier of Claife-haunted woods. Catch the public launch from its pier back to Ambleside to enjoy sunset from the waterfront benches. If you set sail yourself in summer months, stop in at Storrs Hall â the Georgian mansion where Sir Walter Scott and Wordsworth attended parties and regattasâ and have tea delivered to your boat. Start at the Sun Tea Shop for seafood chowder and amazing cakes. Up the road at the old grammar school, young Wordsworth carved his name into his desk. A remorseful innkeeper is said to have knitted waistcoats for several ducks she took for dead and plucked when they were merely sleeping off the beer from a barrel that had slipped its hoops at the Drunken Duck. Book ahead if you want an excellent dinner with your pint. Tuck a journal and a pen into your pocket, and sit on the rock outcropping on the far side of the falls. You never know what havoc all this literary inspiration might wreak. She lives in Palo Alto, California, with her husband and their two sons. Her book, The Wednesday Daughters was published last month. Near Sawrey via Dreamstime. Page 8
Chapter 8 : Lake poet English literary circle blog.quintoapp.com In English literature, the key figures of the early Romantic period are considered to be the group of poets including William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey. Later they became known as the Lake Poets, named after the Lake District in the north-west of England where they lived. In an article published in The Edinburgh Review, Jeffrey referred to the three poets as belonging to the "Lake School. Jeffrey began writing about the group of poets as early as Attributing a number of characteristics to the writings of the Lake Poets, Jeffrey argued that their work was based on anti-social principles and that while it reflected the simplicity and energy inspired by nature, it was also both harsh and quaint in its use of "ordinary" language and themes. Other critics, including Thomas De Quincey, have argued that there existed no such "school" of poetry. According to these critics, the Lake Poets shared only friendship and brief periods of collaboration, not similar philosophies or poetic styles. Southey and Coleridge met in, at Balliol College in Oxford. There they hatched a plan to create a Utopian community in America called "Pantisocracy. Southey soon gave up on their political agenda, and Coleridge terminated the friendship. The two were married to sisters, however, and these familial bonds soon encouraged the poets to reconcile. By, Coleridge had begun a close friendship with Wordsworth. During this period, the two poets influenced each other greatly, with Coleridge encouraging Wordsworth to explore philosophic poetry and Wordsworth offering Coleridge his insights and perspectives on nature. Even so, Southey and his wife took up residence with Coleridge and his family in Keswick, a part of the Lake District, in This was a time of increasing marital discord for Coleridge. During this period, Coleridge traveled extensively and lived with the Wordsworths for several years. Despite their distinctly different styles and philosophies, Coleridge, Southey, and Wordsworth are all considered Romantic poets. Wordsworth and Coleridge both possessed an active imagination as well as a strong sense of perception. While Wordsworth used his imaginative powers to idealize the familiar, Coleridge explored the philosophical aspects of poetry. He used exotic historical settings, such as Spain and the Orient, in his examination of the mythic and supernatural, but on the whole he was regarded more for his prose and literary criticism than for his poetry. The connection of the Lake Poets to Romanticism also encompassed a love of liberty and radical political convictions. Immersed in their love and worship of nature, the Lake Poets also believed in the spirit of reform through revolution, while maintaining that the union of the soul with nature was of primary importance. During the end of the eighteenth century and the early years of the nineteenth century, they were sheltered from the affairs of the world in their Lake Country homes. But in the aftermath of the French Revolution they began to regain interest in worldly events, and their attitudes became increasingly conservative. This transition of the Lake Poets to conservatism has been a major focus of study by twentieth century critics. While nineteenth-century critics such as George Brandes have condemned the Lake Poets as traitors to liberty, most recent critics have found a number of justifications for the shift from liberalism to conservatism. Another area of interest for recent scholars has been the relationship of the Lake Poets to each other and to their contemporaries. Page 9
Chapter 9 : 5 Literary Itineraries in the English Lake District â Fodors Travel Guide Lake poet, any of the English poets William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Robert Southey, who lived in the English Lake District of Cumberland and Westmorland (now Cumbria) at the beginning of the 19th century. The Lake District poets: Romanticism and sublime inspiration for Travellers. But these daffodils captured a significant moment for William and Dorothy Wordsworth. The Industrial Revolution Modern technology arrived in England in For some, the Industrial Revolution meant opportunity and progress. For others, it threatened a beloved way of life. Nature began to diminish with the rapid expansion of urbanization. This deeply troubled the Romantic poets, who believed in the power and beauty of nature compared with the corruptions of humanity. Nature inspired the overflowing of feeling for the Romantics. It was a source of sublime inspiration. The Central Lake District is ringed by a glaciated massif of mountains and ridges intersected by wide, steep-sided U-shaped valleys often occupied by ribbon lakes. The southern Lake District fringes are typified by limestone ridges flanked by wooded slopes and lake-filled valleys. On the mountain fringes the fells give way to more muted scenery; low hills and valleys often filled by drumlin suites. The coast is a mixture of sandstone cliffs and depositional dunes, which also occur in the south along the fringes of wide, silt filled estuaries with large tidal ranges. The Lake District is a textbook instance of glacial landforms. This ancient geological process gives the region the distinctive geography that tourists enjoy exploring to this day. William left in to study at the University of Cambridge, and subsequently travelled Britain and Europe for twelve years. While visiting the area on a walking tour with fellow poet and friend Coleridge, he came upon Dove Cottage at the edge of Grasmere. William was looking to find a permanent home for he and his sister, Dorothy, with whom he was very close. Fortunately, the cottage was available to rent, so the pair took up residence here in the Lake District once more. Coleridge and another poet, Robert Southey, lived nearby in Kiswick, and the Wordsworths often walked the 16 miles to see them. The group of friends drew inspiration from nature here, producing many poems according to the ideals of Romanticism. It was invented by critics of their work. Of course, opinions have very much softened since then, and even during the lifetime of these men, they achieved considerable success. Both Southey and Wordsworth served as Poet Laureates. The region also appears in many paintings. Prior to the late 17th century, mountain landscapes were an unpopular subject, thought to be foreboding and unpleasant. The practice began in the midth century and continued for two centuries. While touring, men were exposed to the mountainous regions usually avoided. They began to recognise their natural beauty, and conveyed this using art and the written word. This is widely considered to be the advent of the modern travel writing genre. John Constable and J. Turner were among painters soon drawn to the wild Lake District. The steady flow of artists keen to capture some of its beauty continues to this day. The arrival of the Victorian era Views of pretty Hawkshead village in the Lakes District As the Romantic period gave way to the Victorian era, the central concerns of writers changed. Victorian writers were less concerned about urbanization and the decline of nature, and more interested in addressing issues of widening social class. But the abiding romance of the Lake District did not disappear, even as the focus on the sublimity of nature receded. In a book, Green Victorians, Vicky Albritton and Fredrik Albritton Jonsson suggest that the region was the heart of a group of people who tried to create a new economy, shunning the Victorian consumer society. Art critic and patron John Ruskin was at the centre. Naturalism and the sciences The Lake District continued to be associated with key figures during the Victorian age and beyond, including Beatrix Potter. Victorianism coincided with a revolution of the sciences. This was just another way that the wilds of the Lake District were immortalized by those who adored it. Lake Windermere in the distance Odyssey Traveller small group tours of the Lakes District Odyssey Traveller is a not-for-profit organisation offering comprehensive educational tour programs. We provide worldwide experiences for mature travellers who are keen to blend a love of travel with a thirst for knowledge, and we welcome participants from any country. If you are keen to wander the Lakes District, discovering the sites that inspired a whole literary movement, check out our range of specialised tours of England and the British Isles. Perhaps you are keen to follow in the footsteps of William and Dorothy Wordsworth, and get closer to nature on a walking tour. Visit castles and Page 10
manor houses, museums and historic working buildings to gain a picture of England across eras. Drive through the spectacular Lake District scenery en route to Grasmere, where we will visit Dove Cottage, the Wordsworth Museum, and the churchyard of St Oswald, where several members of the Wordsworth family are buried. Finally, if you have a passion for literature and art, we have designed a program especially for you. Visit Tinturn Abbey, which inspired both Wordsworth and Turner. About Odyssey Traveller Odyssey Traveller is famous for our small groups, and we average eight participants per tour. Our maximum group size is eighteen people, which ensures quality, flexibility and care that is tailored to our clients. We specialise in small group tours for the senior traveller who is seeking adventure or is curious about the world we live in. But be prepared to meet fellow travellers in their 80s and beyond! Both couples and solo travellers are very welcome on our tours. Odyssey Traveller is committed to charitable activities that support the environment and cultural development of Australian and New Zealand communities. We award scholarships on the basis of academic performance and demonstrated financial need. We award at least one scholarship per year. Register below to receive regular articles from Odyssey Travellers. Page 11