lESTalfts at Mj^iltm^z. 



SKELGILL AND WANSFELL. 

 (7 miles. ) 



In the immediate environs of Ambleside, the paths speak 

 for themselves. For instance, every walker will explore the 

 meadows between the town and the river, and cannot fail to 

 notice the well-kept Nursery Gardens of Mr. Grier, where 

 all the ferns of the region, and an unusually good show of 

 flowers, are exhibited. But the stranger may possibly miss 

 a beautiful walk through the woods on Wansfell, command- 

 ing the finest views of the head of Winandermere, and of 

 the mountain groups beyond. Almost every path leading 

 up from the left of the old road between Ambleside and 

 Waterhead leads into the woods ; but the best is that which 

 turns off, and upwards, just opposite a group of houses, in 

 one of which lives Dove, the fishmonger. All such paths 

 are rough and wet ; but this one is full of charms when once 

 it enters the wood. The earliest anemones abound there, 

 and many other wild flowers ; the brooks are clear and spark- 

 ling; the rocky masses which crop out above, tufted with 

 mosses and ferns, are an endless treat to the eye ; while the 

 scene below and above is surprisingly fine ; — the views up 

 both vafleys, and along the lake, and into its bays and coves, 

 all alive with boats ; or, in some seasons, as still as a mirror, 

 reflecting even the distant mountain tops ; and far away the 

 clustering peaks and graduated ridges of a little world of 

 mountains. Step by step the scene varies, as the path follows 

 the prominences or recesses of the hill side. It runs above 

 ^IDobenest, and then strikes back from above the road, pass- 

 ing through some fields, and issuing in the lane which leads 

 down from Troutbeck to the mail-road at Lowwood. This 

 j^kelgill walk is a great favourite with residents ; and it would 



