RAILWAY TO KESWICK. 103 



then turn to the left very shortly after he reaches 

 the highway, and follow a road which also will take 

 him past the field in which the Druids' Temple 

 stands. This field is nearly at the highest point 

 of the road, and is on the left hand. It is entered 

 by a stile. The principal road through St. John's 

 Vale is the one which leads to Threlkeld. To fol- 

 low this the traveller must not cross the stream, 

 hut keep it on his left, as it has been since he 

 entered the vale. From Threlkeld to Keswick, a 

 distance of four miles, the road follows the course 

 of the Greta, and affords fine views of Saddleback 

 and Skiddaw. 



A new and commodious route to Keswick is now 

 offered by the Cockermouth, Keswick, and Penrith 

 Railway, which was opened in the autumn of 1864, 

 thus supplying a direct communication between the 

 coast line and the main trunks of the north. A large 

 traffic is expected on the new railway from the 

 mineral wealth of Whitehaven, which will thus be 

 carried direct to the midland and eastern counties. 

 The line will also be a great convenience to pas- 

 sengers, both in entering and quitting the Lake 

 District, especially the visitors approaching it from 

 the north of England. During the severe frosts in 

 the winter of 1864-65, its resources were at once 

 brought into full activity, several hundred skaters 

 being conveyed daily to the magnificent expanse of 

 Derwentwater, which was frozen from end to end. 

 In approaching Keswick from Penrith, the lovely 

 vale of the Greta is seen to great advantage, as the 

 new line follows the sinuous course of that stream, 

 piercing its galleries through the red rock, and 

 emerging from the " darkness visible " of the railway 



