Day Five: the Lake District, William Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter

The day began with rain showers, but gave way to glorious sunshine by mid afternoon. The students didn't mind. We left for the day, umbrellas in hand, and drove from Carlisle to the Lake District National Park. While this area is extraordinarily picturesque it is also the area in England with the most literary associations outside London. Williams Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Thomas de Quincy, Robert Sauthey and John Ruskin are some of the poets and writers we learned about today.

We toured Dove Cottage where Wordsworth lived from 1799 until 1808. Simple living and plain thinking was his philosophy. It was plain to see how this quaint home with a view of the lake and the lovely garden provided inspiration to the poet.

The district is dotted with quaint old villages with stories to tell. We made a stop in Grasmere Village to visit the parish church which is home to the Wordsworth family graves. Nearby is a small gingerbread shop which was once the schoolhouse where Wordsworth attended. Gingerbread has been sold there with the same recipe since 1850...and of course we made purchases. Six cakes wrapped in white paper sacks and a rubber band. So authentic. So delicious.

We learned a great deal about the history of sheep farming in the area. They are seem roaming in fields, by creeks and in the woodlands. We saw lots of baby lambs this time of year!

This is Hill Top, home to Beatrix Potter in 1905. The purchase of this home was her foothold in the country as she was from London. She loved nature and was as passionate about conservation of farming and the lake district as she was about the writings inspired by her surroundings. Her garden is preserved as it had been. We enjoyed lingering here and reminiscing about our favorite Potter stories!

We have planned for an earlier dinner as everyone is a little tired this evening. We leave you with one of William Wordsworth's most famous poems inspired by the daffodils blooming lakeside. We are so thankful to have visited this most beautiful area! Tomorrow we leave Carlisle for Yorkshire.

Ode to Daffodils

by William Wordsworth

I wandered 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
And 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 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.