The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1919-10-25
lake district of England,
n one of the most beautiful of
n regions. always has been Il
favOrite resort of American

m regions. always has been {;
favOrite resort of American
tourists. not only because of its nat
ural attractions, but also on account
of its literary associations.
First among recorded tourists tC
Lakeland was Gray, the poet, author
Of the "Elegy in Country Church
| yard" says Country Life. He visited
| the WeStmoreland and Cumberland
| lakes in 1869. the year before Words
| worth, the most outstanding among
! flle lake school of poets, was born.
touring and literary sense. and being
essentially of the eighteenth century.
he fled from them and the grandeur
Of their scenery in diSmay. For not
then had the picturesque been in
vented. The beauties of wild nature
were not appreciated. and had they
been the roads of that age and the
lack of proper accommodation were
powerful deterrentS.
But for close upon Il century Lake
land has been greatly appreciated
touring ground. Scenery and the lit
erary associations with Wordsworth
Southey. Coleridge. De Quincy and
their circle, have attracted every type
vacation reading parties of university
students, then the honeymoon couples.
To whom the Low Wood hotel, Amble-
side. was once. in sense. sacred
and then the railways brought tour
lists from far and near. But not until
the automobile came upon the roads
was Lakeland comfortably or thor
oughly to he explored.
The tourist by motor car here has
choice of every kind of road. or no
road, and may. If he will. take his
sport in transforming with the most
adventurous, or take his sightseeing
along roads as good as any i'm this.
country. 1t is all matter of taste
and inclination. The ideal way of
seeing Lakeland is undoubtedly thar
OF selecting some central spot at which
TO stay and taking from il daily. out
and home, excursions. This is so for
several reasons; chief among them
that of the somewhat limited area of
the lake district, which may be stated
at about thirty miles square. The
lakes figure so largely in popular i'm
agination that this will seem scarcely
credible: yet any reference to maps
hA ,Fs IL A.. n
not follow from this sheer matter-of-
fact measurement that this region is
easily seen or soon exhausted.
Grasmere in the Center.
Exactly in the center of the lake
district is Grasmere, central geographic
cally, and in its interest. for il was
WordSworths home, and in its church
yard he lies.
There are five recognized centers for
tourists in these regions: Windermere,
Ambleside and Grasmere, about eoui-
distant, some four miles from one an
other; Keswick, thirteen miles further
north. and Coniston. somewhat iso- |
lated, seven miles southwest of Am |
bleside. 1t would he thankless task |
to declare any preference among
these, but we will take Grasmere as
the very focus of the lakes.
Ora Smere village is sweet and era |
rious place. Here Wordsworth resided
for more than fifty years. His later
homes here are not accessible, but
Dove Cottage, where he wrote his
earliest and best, has been preserved
~ ii was in his day, and is the resort
Of literary pilgrims, while the unpre-
church beside the River
Rotha Is much the same as he knew il.
That is an interesting day trip. alony
excellent roads, which takes us north
% Cockermouth, the old market town
1t the extreme northerly edge of Lake
and. where his birthplace, in Main
street, is still shown.
The way runs by Dunmail Raise 10
Nythburn. whose little church. one of
he smallest in England, is neighbored
~ the Mays Head Inn. where the old
ialesmen and their wives put I'D their
lorseS while attending service in olden
lines. The road then runs alongside
Thirlmere. with the imposing noun
ain. Helvellyn. Bis feet, on right.
leswick town comes next; a consid-
rable place for this part of the coun-
~. and with an oddly foreign appear
nee, caused chiefly by the church
Ike building Greatly the town halD i'm
he middle of the street. The chief