62 SCANDALE AND SWEDEN BRIDGE. 



A careful survey from one of the highest points 

 will show the stranger a series of gates in more 

 than one direction, and by following the line he 

 may descend without difficulty to almost any point 

 he may have chosen. 



IV. If he desires to ascend the opposite heights, 



nothing is easier, and there are few walks more 



charming than that to Sweden Bridge, 



S w™ bbidob. which s P ans the Scandale Beck at no 

 great distance from its source. Three 

 of these becks or brooks come down into the 

 Rothay Valley from the eastern heights ; — the 

 Stock, which is described in the account of Stock- 

 ghyll, and which flows along Stony Lane, falling 

 into the Rothay at Millar Bridge; the Scandale 

 Beck which descends from the cul-de-sac between 

 the Kirkstone road and the Rydal heights, passing 

 under the mail-road between Ambleside and Rydal ; 

 and the Rydal Beck, rising from the cul-de-sac of 

 Fairfield, and taking its way down through the 

 park to join the Rothay near Pelter Bridge. It is 

 the second of these streams which is spanned by 

 the little old-fashioned, picturesque arch of Sweden 

 Bridge, placed in the midst of the wilds. 



Going up the Kirkstone road, there is a turn 

 to the left just before the old Ambleside Church. 

 This is the road to be pursued. It leads past the 

 parsonage, past the new hamlet at Ellerrigg, and 

 and on through fences for a considerable way, — 

 the occasional gates affording glimpses of a further 

 view, till Rydal Park and lake are fairly commanded, 

 and the valley of the Rothay lies below, under the 

 slopes of Loughrigg. By the time the road issues 

 from the fences, the scene is entirely changed, for 



