BRATIIAY VALLEY. 73 



tinned in "Walk IT, p. 59. It leads along the western 

 side of the valley, under Loughrigg to Rydal. Be- 

 tween Rothay Bridge and Clappersgate is Croft 

 Lodge, — the mansion and its woods being on the 

 right of the road, and the gardens stretching down 

 to the river on the left. Then comes the pretty 

 hamlet of Clappersgate, so conspicuous from the 

 lake ; and two roads branch off, leading along each 



bank of the river Brathay, to meet 

 v"«yT at Skelwith Bridge at the other end 



of the valley. If the stranger has any 

 thought of ascending Loughrigg some other day, 

 he may now see, above Clappersgate, the path by 

 which he may ascend or descend ; a zig-zag path 

 up the hillside, leading to the two peaks crowning 

 the south end of Loughrigg, from between which 

 the most perfect possible view of Windermere is 

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

 The left-hand road should now be taken, crossing 

 Brathay Bridge, and passing the parsonage and the 

 lodge of Brathay Hall. The road which branches 

 off to the left is the one to be followed in going to 

 Hawkshcad or Coniston, or in making the circuit 

 of Windermere. When the stranger sees the 



churchyard-gate, he must alight, and 

 chtocil walk up to the church. From the rock 



there he commands the mountain-range 

 from Coniston Old Man. ■* the Langdale Pikes : the 

 Brathay flows beneath, through its cpiiet meadows; 

 and its dashing among the rocks, just under his 

 feet, catches his ear; Loughrigg, with its copses 

 and crags and purple heather, rises immediately 

 before him ; and to the right he sees a part of Am- 

 bleside nestling between the hills and a stretch of 



