The Wordsworth Trail

 Everybody, I'm sure has heard of William Wordsworth at one time or another. Even if you're not familiar with his poetry, the name conjures up images of romance and solitude.

Recently on one of our 'pub walks' we discovered William Wordsworth for ourselves. Walked in his footsteps, so to speak. The walk took us around the lakes of Grasmere and Rydal Water, as well as to two of Wordsworth's former homes. Dove Cottage, where he lived with his sister, Dorothy and Rydal Mount which was the family home until his death in 1850.

On the way around the Lakes we came to a curious tree, all over it had coins, different currencies and denominations stuck into its many cracks and crevices. It looked unusual, especially in its quiet and fairly deserted location. Very interesting, and definitely something to write home about!

 Rydal Mount itself is set in a beautiful garden. William, it seems, was a very busy man. Not only was he a poet, and the Distributor of Stamps for Westmorland (house stamps, not the letter kind) he also was a landscape gardener. Designing and tending not only his own garden but that of many of his friends and neighbours as well.

You can see why, this photo shows just a fraction of the garden and house. Its beautiful, and apparently looks exactly as it did all those years ago.

The area around Grasmere is gorgeous, the two lakes are so close together, everywhere you look is water views. We also stopped to visit the famous Grasmere Gingerbread Shop. The secret recipe is passed down through the family, only a couple of people know it!

Must be special!
The pub we stopped at on this walk was different to the others in that it was a modern style pub, attached to one of the areas award winning hotels. Still amazing food though and loads of those local ales B2 has become so fond of.

We found a copy of one of Mr Wordsworth's most famous poems, maybe it will jog some memories, and if not its still a great poem, apparently some of its best lines were suggested by his wife. Are we Surprised, I think not.

                           DaffodilsI wondered lonely as a cloud,
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine,
A twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never ending line
Along the margin of a bay;
Ten thousand saw I at a glance
Tossing their heads in a spritely dance. 

The waves beside them danced; but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee
A poet could not but be gay
In such 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.

We'll leave you with that thought.

Until next time, and maybe some poetry of our own,

B1 and B2

The Wedding



Our New House, ha ha ha

 Unless you've been living under a rock, you would have noticed that a very big, elaborate, slightly over the top wedding took place on this side of the world recently. The weather in the lead up was beautiful and sunny and lucky for us, our day off fell on one such day.
We decided to get into the spirit and visited one of the local manor houses. Sizergh Castle, is now run by the National Trust, although the family still live in and use the castle. The castle has been the home of the Strickland family since 1239, when the very clever Sir William married the heiress to the estate.

The house and gardens have been added to and expanded over the years to the beautiful estate that is there today. Since the day was so warm we spent most of our time exploring the gardens, admiring the spring blooms. Getting ideas from the vegetable and herb garden. It really put our patio grow bag to shame, but I guess we all work with what we've got, ha ha.

The Door Knocker

The house had some amazing artwork and craftsmanship. Including this fantastic lions head door knocker. Royalist? I think so.

The day of the wedding itself we were lucky enough to have a late start at work, leaving us free to enjoy the atmosphere and entertainment. Our local village organised a party in the park, 'bring a plate to share and your own chairs' the poster proclaimed. Now, neither having time to cook, nor the inclination to carry our heavy kitchen chairs up the hill, B1 and B2 decided to stay in and have a party of our own. So early morning, we organised ourselves on the couch with our tea and biscuits (not much of a party, but it was 10am) to watch the event unfold. Ten minutes in B2 promptly fell asleep, leaving B1 to watch and enjoy the whole day in peace.  

We were also lucky enough this week to have a friend from work offer to show us around the lakes. We visited lots of Villages we had yet to venture to, stopped and tried local beers at many little pubs. B2 has become quite a fan of the local ales!
We had lunch in a fantastic local pub and really enjoyed the day and night, finishing up in the early hours.

The great thing about England at this time of year is the spring flowers and growth, the new born animals, lambs and calves, ducklings and chicks.

Its great to look at but murder on the hay fever!



Till next time, B1 and B2!