WALKING WITH WORDSWORTH
Follow in the footsteps of England’s most famous poet as you begin your journey at Dove Cottage - his first family home, then circle one of the Lake District’s smallest, but prettiest lakes.
Walk alongside the White Moss Tarn (body of water) which is believed to be the, “pool bare to the eye of heaven” in Wordsworth’s poem Resolution and Independence. The walk starts and begins in the delightful town of Grasmere – the only place in the world to buy Sarah Nelson’s traditional gingerbread and see Wordsworth’s grave.
Route
Start/parking: Dove Cottage, Pay & Display parking in Grasmere Start
With your back to Dove Cottage, turn L to walk uphill. Watch for a boulder to the L of the road after about 150m. This lane – and the path you follow as far as Rydal – was once a ‘Corpse Road’ or ‘Coffin Route’. The boulder, known as the Coffin, or Resting Stone, was used to support the coffin while the bearers rested.
¼ mile/400m
Just past the farm, take the lane that bears slightly L, heading up the hill. Follow the road once it levels out, and after the wall on your left ends, you will walk alongside White Moss Tarn. After passing below the solitary cottage of Brockstone, keep to the track going straight ahead through a gate. The route passes in and out of pretty woodland with views down to Rydal Water and across to Loughrigg Fell.
1¾ miles/2.8km
Turn R on reaching a quiet lane at Rydal. On your R is Rydal Mount, Wordsworth’s home from 1813 until he died in 1850 and today open to the public. On reaching the A591, briefly turn right to visit Dora’s Field. With a National
Trust sign on the gate, it’s on the right after about 80m. Wordsworth owned this small patch of land and had intended to build a home for his daughter Dora on it. After leaving Dora’s Field, turn L and walk back along the A591 towards Ambleside, continuing past turning for Rydal Mount.
2 miles/3.2km
After 300m, take the narrow road on the R over a bridge and then turn R again. Emerging from the trees, bear R to drop to a lakeside path. Continue with the water on your R. About 1.2km after first joining the lakeside path, and having since climbed from the water’s edge, go through a gate in a wall on the R to enter woodland. Ignoring an early path to the L, head downhill. Cross the bridge over the River Rothay and turn R. Take the first path on the L. Having climbed to the road, carefully cross over and turn L.
3½ miles/5.7km
After 80 metres, take the narrow lane rising to the R. Having walked about 600m along this lane, you’ll see a farm gate on the L. The subject of at least two of Wordsworth’s poems, local tradition has it that if you make a wish at the gate it will be granted. From the gate retrace your steps along lane for 100m going through gate on L onto path through ‘John’s Grove,’ named for Wordsworth’s brother. Returning to lane at end of grove, turn R, keeping L at the farm and head downhill back to Dove Cottage.