DAYS IN DOVE DALE QI 



Hall with his friend Charles Cotton. My 

 chief authority for this tradition is the chatty 

 old woman, whom I have already mentioned, 

 who used to keep the donkeys for tourists up 

 the Dale, but who now politely opens the 

 gate for all comers. 



The tradition is so probable that it may be 

 taken for absolute truth, for where else could 

 dear old Izaak Walton have more comfort- 

 ably taken his ease and smoked his evening 

 pipe than in that cosy old parlour, which still 

 affords a welcome resting-place to weary pis- 

 cators ? 



When the old farmhouse was converted into 

 an hotel, now many years ago, a new wing was 

 added to it facing Thorpe Cloud, so that now 

 the house forms a right angle with stables and 

 farm buildings at the back. 



I will only add that the inside of " The Izaak 

 Walton " is as pleasant as its outside is unpre- 

 tentious and picturesque. 



It is five miles away from the nearest rail- 

 way, and thus "far from the madding crowd's 

 ignoble strife " may it long remain ! 



Here, on such a spot as this, one of those 

 brand-new palatial hotels which seem always 



