CIUCUIT OP CONISTON LAKE. 35 



way, tourists have sometimes begun their circTiit of the district 

 from this point. Local authorities differ as to the relative advan- 

 tages of beginning here or at Windermere. The question may 

 well be left open : and we will only state that the chief recom- 

 mendation in favour of the Coniston route is that Furness may 

 be visited by the way. 



The Old Man is the first object of attraction. The ascent will 

 be described hereafter, in the section devoted to the principal 

 mountains. The circuit of the lake wUl next be made. It is a 

 drive of fourteen miles. The traveller must begin with the western 

 side, as by so doing he will face the finest views on his return. A 

 little more than a mile from Coniston he will pass Coniston Hall, 

 formerly the seat of the Le Flemings, but now converted into a 

 farm. It is chiefly remarkable for its large ivy-covered chimneys. 

 The road turns from the lake till it reaches Torver, and then 

 follows Torver Beck to the shore again. At the lower end of the 

 lake, the river Crake is crossed by a bridge, at a village called 

 Water Yeat. The traveller then takes the turn to the north and 

 sees the whole length of the lake before him, enclosed at a distance 

 of six miles by the rising grounds and woods of Mr, Marshall's 

 estate, — those eminences themselves being a lovely screen of the 

 skirts of the mountains wliich tower behind. Wordsworth exhorted 

 strangers to enter the District by this approach, as one of the very 

 finest. He said, " The stranger, from the moment he puts his foot 

 upon Lancaster sands, seems to leave the turmoil and traffic of the 

 world behind him ; and, crossing the majestic plain when the sea 

 has retired, he beholds, rising apparently from its base, the cluster 

 of mountains among which he is going to wander ; and towards 

 whose recesses, by the vale of Coniston, he is gradually and peace- 

 fully led." I'he road ascends and descends along the whole distance, 

 — the hills becoming higher and steeper as the plain is left further 

 behind. The old village of Nibthwaite is first passed, and the 

 well-wooded grounds of Waterpark. Then appear the islands, the 

 Gridiron and Fir Island, near the eastern shoi-e j and next. Brant- 

 wood, lately the residence of Mr. Linton, where the artist did not 

 need to look beyond his own grounds for the wild flowers which 

 suggest his arabesques, and where views of exceeding splendour and 

 beauty are commanded, in all lights, without passing the gate. It 

 is the ri'/ut nome for artist or poet, with its craggy heights behind, 

 its luxuriant woods around, and the vale of water below, enclosed 

 with mountains of which the Old Man is the crown. A seat in 

 these grounds is named after Wordsworth, from his recommending 

 it as the best point of view for Coniston. Others prefer that from 

 above Coniston Bank, a mile further on, It is best obtained from 



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