76 "^iZi^mtietmere to ^tasmete* 



and the gardens stretching down to the river on the left. 

 Then comes the pretty hamlet of ©'lappetsgate, so conspicu- 

 ous from the lake. Two roads branch off, leading along 

 each bank of the river Brathay, to meet at Skelwith Bridge, 

 at the other end of the valley. (If the traveller has any 

 thought of ascending ^ougl^tigg some other day, he may 

 now see, above Clappersgate, the path by which he may as- 

 cend or descend : a zigzag path up the hill-side, leading to the 

 peaks crowning the south end of Loughrigg, from between 

 which the most perfect possible view of Winandermere is 

 obtained : that cannot, however, be done to-day.) The left- 

 hand road should now be taken, crossing ^tati^ag JBtltJ00, 

 and passing the lodge of Brathay Hall ; then, the road on 

 the right, by the river-side must be followed.* When the 

 stranger sees the churchyard-gate, he must alight, and walk 

 up to the church. From the terrace there he commands 

 the mountain range from Coniston Old Man to the Lang- 

 dale Pikes : the Brathay flows beneath, through its quiet 

 meadows ; and its dashing among the rocks, just under his 

 feet, catches his ear ; Loughrigg, with its copse and crags, 

 and purple heather, rises immediately before him ; and, to 

 the right, he sees a part^ of Ambleside nestling between the 

 hills and a stretch of the lake. This churchyard has the 

 first daffodils and snowdrops on the southern side of its rock ; 

 and, in its copse, the earliest wood-anemones. Throughout 

 the valley, spring flowers and the yellow and white broom 

 abound. 



The road ascends and descends abruptly, and winds to- 

 wards and away from the right bank of the Brathay till it 

 reaches Skelwith Fold. There the stranger must alight 



* The wider road, which branches off to the left, is the one to be fol- 

 lowed in going to Hawkshead or Coniston, or in making the circuit of 

 Winandermere. 



