"Regent," "Central," "Granville," and many others. At
Ramsey--"Mitre," "Queen's," "Prince of Wales," "Albert,"
"Albion," etc. At Castletown--"George," "Union," etc. At
Peel--"Creg Melin," "Marine," "Peel Castle," etc.
The Isle of Man is much visited because of its mild and equable climate,
its scenery, and its quaint laws and customs. The island is 30 miles
long, and is mountainous in the centre. From the highest point,
Snaefell, one can see four countries. Picturesque wooded glens are to be
found in many parts of the island, and these having become well known as
attractive resorts, a small charge is made to enter each glen. At Glen
Darragh there is a circle of stones, and at Laxey, famous for its
gigantic wheel for pumping water from the mines, there is another small
circle called the "Cloven Stones." In many cases the churchyards possess
old Runic crosses.
Douglas, on the east of the island, is the chief town. It is a modern
seaside resort, much frequented by Lancashire folk in August. Ramsey,
further north, is quieter, and pleasantly situated on the only river of
importance in Man. It is an old town, with yellow sands and a harbour
crowded with herring-boats. Castletown lies to the south, a quiet old
place, with narrow, crooked streets. Castle Rushen, built in the
thirteenth century, shows no signs of decay. It consists of a keep and
massive outer wall. Here the kings and lords of Manxland lived, though
until lately it was the prison of the island. Peel, on the west, is
chiefly remarkable for its rocky island near the shore, on which there
are the ruins of a castle and churches surrounded by a battlemented
wall. St. Patrick probably landed here, and the ruined cathedral is the
oldest see in Britain.
The most famous king of "Mona" was Orry, son of a Danish king of the
tenth century. The island became subject to England in 1290. The
National Assembly, or House of Keys, was founded by Orry.
[Illustration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._
CASTLE RUSHEN, ISLE OF MAN.
Built in the thirteenth century, it was for a long period the residence
of the kings and lords of Manxland.]
BRANTWOOD
THE HOME OF JOHN RUSKIN
=How to get there.=--Train from Euston. L. and N.W. Railway.
=Nearest Station.=--Coniston Lake (Brantwood is on the eastern side
of Coniston Lake).
=Distance from London.=--279 miles.
=Average Time.=--Varies between 8-1/4 to 9-1/4 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=--Single 41s. 1d. ... 23s. 2-1/2d.
Return 80s. 5d. ... 46s. 5d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Waterhead Hotel," etc.
=Alternative Route.=--Train from St. Pancras. Midland Railway.
The road to Brantwood from Coniston runs under the shade of beautiful
trees, at the head of Coniston Water. After leaving behind the village
and the Thwaite, with its peacocks strutting in its old-world gardens,
one skirts the grounds of Monk Coniston. Soon afterwards Tent Lodge,
where Tennyson once lived, is passed. Afterwards comes Low Bank Ground,
which is only a short distance from Brantwood. The situation, as one may
see from the drawing given opposite, is one of great natural advantages,
while the house is quite unassuming; its simple white walls, however,
give one the sense of a comfortable if unpretending home. The interior
has been described as giving an impression "of solid, old-fashioned
furniture, of amber-coloured damask curtains and coverings." There were
Turner's and other water-colours in curly frames upon the drawing-room
walls.
Writing of his earliest recollections of Coniston, in _Praeterita_,
Ruskin says: "The inn at Coniston was then actually at the upper end of
the lake, the road from Ambleside to the village passing just between it
and the water, and the view of the long reach of lake, with its
softly-wooded, lateral hills, had for my father a tender charm, which
excited the same feeling as that with which he afterward regarded the
lakes of Italy." Ruskin's death in 1900 took place at Brantwood. George
Eliot, in speaking of him, said, "I venerate Ruskin as one of the
greatest teachers of the age. He teaches with the inspiration of a
Hebrew prophet."
Ruskin was the son of a wealthy wine merchant, and was born in London in
1819. He studied at Oxford, where he gained the Newdigate prize for
English poetry in 1839. After taking his degree, in the following year
appeared his first volume of _Modern Painters_, the design of which was
to prove the great superiority of modern landscape-painters,
particularly Turner, over the old masters.
[Illustration: RUSKIN'S HOUSE AT BRANTWOOD.
The room with the turret window was Ruskin's bedroom.]
FOWEY
=How to get there.=--Train from Paddington. Great Western Rly.
=Nearest Station.=--Fowey.
=Distance from London.=--282 miles.
=Average Time.=--Varies from 7 to 8 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=--Single 43s. 4d. 27s. 0d. 21s. 8d.
Return 75s. 10d. 47s. 6d. ...
=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"The Fowey Hotel," "St. Catherine's
Private Hotel," "Cotswold House," etc.
Fowey, now little more than a fishing village and holiday resort, was
once the chief port in Cornwall, and the equal of Plymouth and
Dartmouth, a position it owed to its fine harbour, formed by the mouth
of the river Fowey, on which it stands. On the west side of the harbour
stands St. Catherine's Castle, dating from the reign of Henry VIII., and
on the east the ruins of St. Saviour's Chapel, an old church. There are
also remains of two square stone towers, erected for the protection of
the entrance to the harbour in the reign of Edward IV. Between these
forts, in mediaeval days, the men of Fowey used to draw a chain as an
additional security. The houses are built chiefly of stone, but the
streets are so narrow and full of angles that it is difficult for a
vehicle of any size to pass through them. In the reign of Edward III. it
sent forty-seven vessels to assist in the siege of Calais.
A heavy blow was dealt to the town by Edward IV. After he had concluded
peace with France, the men of Fowey continued to make prizes of whatever
French ships they could capture, and refused to give up their piratical
ways. This so incensed the king, that the ringleaders in the matter were
summarily executed, a heavy fine was levied upon the town, and its
vessels handed over to the port of Dartmouth, as a lesson against
piracy. This treatment of Fowey seems a little hard in view of the fact
that Dartmouth men were constantly raiding the coasts of Brittany.
The church, built in the reign of Edward IV. and restored in 1876, has
one of the highest towers in Cornwall. The interior has a good timber
roof, a carved oak pulpit, an old font, and several interesting
monuments to the Treffry and Rashleigh families.
The finest and most interesting house in the town is Place House, the
seat of the Treffrys, who have been connected with Fowey for many
generations. Many of the apartments are exceedingly interesting,
especially the hall, with its fine oak roof. The present owner allows
the hall and other portions to be shown to visitors.
[Illustration: _Valentine & Sons, Ltd._
FOWEY.
Showing the two little forts at the mouth of the harbour, across which
in mediaeval time a chain was drawn.]
HEXHAM AND HADRIAN'S WALL
=How to get there.=--Train from King's Cross and St. Pancras _via_
Newcastle-on-Tyne. Great Northern Railway.
=Nearest Station.=--Hexham.
=Distance from London.=--289 miles.
=Average Time.=--Varies between 5-1/2 to 8 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=--Single 40s. 10d. ... 24s. 4d.
Return 81s. 8d. ... 48s. 8d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Tynedale Hydropathic Mansion," etc.
=Alternative Route.=--Train from Euston and St. Pancras _via_ Carlisle.
London and North-Western Railway.
Hexham has a beautiful position, surrounded with woods and hills on
three sides, while the broad Tyne flows past the historic town. Above
the surrounding roofs the hoary Abbey Church rises, with its one low
central tower and flat roofs.
The history of Hexham begins with the granting of some land to St.
Wilfrid in 674, on which he built a monastery and church. A few years
later Hexham was made a See, and the "Frithstool" still remains from the
time when its cathedral received the right of sanctuary.
This early cathedral was destroyed by the Danes, and the building left a
battered ruin. When monasticism rose to its height, after the Norman
Conquest, a priory of Canons of St. Augustine was founded there. Its
wealth and numbers gradually increased until, at the end of the
thirteenth century, an entirely new building replaced the Saxon one, and
Hexham became exceedingly powerful.
Hadrian's Wall.--Three miles north of Hexham, at Chollerford, one may
see the remains of the piers of a Roman bridge over the North Tyne, and
close at hand is one of the best preserved forts of Hadrian's Wall. It
was about 124 A.D. that Hadrian started Aulus Plautorius Nepos on the
building of the line of continuous fortifications running from the mouth
of the Tyne to the Solway, a distance of over seventy miles. This was
built on the chain of hills overlooking the valley which runs from
Newcastle to Carlisle. The massive and astonishing ruins to be seen
to-day fill one with surprise, for they suggest to a considerable extent
the Great Wall of China. The remains of the wall proper are, as a rule,
8 feet thick, and are composed of hewn stone (the total height of the
wall was probably about 18 feet). Turrets and small forts are built into
the wall at frequent intervals. The object of the wall was undoubtedly
to act as a military defence against the unconquerable tribes of the
north.
[Illustration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._
A PORTION OF HADRIAN'S WALL.
The continuous line of fortifications built across England by Aulus
Plautorius Nepos about 124 A.D.]
THE LAKE DISTRICT
=How to get there.=--Train to Keswick from Euston. L. and N.W.R.
=Nearest Station.=--Keswick (for visiting Derwentwater, Skiddaw,
Bassenthwaite, Buttermere, Cockermouth, Wytheburn).
=Distance from London.=--300 miles.
=Average Time.=--Varies between 6 to 10 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=--Single 42s. 0d. 26s. 7d. 24s. 1d.
Return 81s. 0d. 47s. 6d. 43s. 0d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Keswick Hotel," "Royal Oak,"
"Queen's," etc.
=Alternative Routes.=--Train from King's Cross to Keswick, Great
Northern Railway. Train from St. Pancras, Midland Railway.
Keswick, usually regarded as the capital of the north-western portion of
the Lake District, is situated in the lovely vale of Derwentwater, on
the river Greta, shut in on all sides by mountain walls, the highest
summit being the lofty Skiddaw, which crowns the range to the north of
the valley. The old portion of the town is picturesque and interesting,
especially the quaint old town hall in the market-place, marking the
centre of the town.
Foremost among the attractions in the vicinity of Keswick is Lake
Derwentwater, within less than a mile of the town, and separated from it
by rising ground. The lake is 3-1/2 miles in length and 1-1/2 wide, and
is remarkable for the transparency of its waters, the shingle and rocks
at the bottom being clearly visible at a depth of 15 or 20 feet. The
scenery of the lake is beyond description beautiful. "Here is
Derwentwater," says De Quincey, "with its lovely islands in one
direction, Bassenthwaite in another; the mountains of Newlands; the
gorgeous confusion of Borrowdale revealing its sublime chaos through the
narrow vista of its gorge; the sullen rear closed by the vast and
towering masses of Skiddaw and Blencathra." The valley of Borrowdale is
to the south of the lake, and near the south-eastern extremity are the
famous Falls of Lodore, so wonderfully described in Southey's celebrated
poem.
Bassenthwaite Water, connected with Derwentwater by the Derwent, is a
smaller lake, but exceedingly beautiful, and Buttermere has a quaint
little village which goes by the same name.
Among the many places within easy reach of Keswick are Cockermouth, the
birthplace of Wordsworth; Wytheburn, the nearest village to Thirlmere;
and Skiddaw, the ascent of which can be accomplished with comparative
ease on pony-back. The summit is over 3000 feet above sea-level.
[Illustration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._
CRUMMOCK WATER AND BUTTERMERE.]
KESWICK
AND THE HOME OF ROBERT SOUTHEY
=How to get there.=--Train from Euston. L. and N.W. Railway.
=Nearest Station.=--Keswick.
=Distance from London.=--300 miles.
=Average Time.=--Varies between 7 to 10-1/4 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares=.--Single 42s. 0d. 26s. 7d. 24s. 1d.
Return 81s. 0d. 53s. 0d. 48s. 2d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Keswick Hotel," "Royal Oak,"
"Queen's," etc.
=Alternative Routes.=--Train from King's Cross, Great Northern
Railway. Train from St. Pancras, Midland Railway.
Keswick is much resorted to by visitors, as it forms convenient
headquarters for exploring the Cumberland part of the Lake District. It
is a small and not very beautiful town, containing several large hotels.
It is situated in a flat valley through which the Derwent and its
tributaries flow, and lies near the north end of Derwentwater Lake.
Hills surround it on every side, while the mountains of Skiddaw shield
it on the north. Since the discovery of plumbago in the district,
Keswick has been famed for its lead-pencils. A renowned week of
religious services, known as the "Keswick Convention," takes place here.
Crosthwaite, to the north-west of the town, is famous for its
twelfth-century church dedicated to St. Kentigern. It has a long
battlemented roof and massive square tower, and possesses many old
brasses and monuments, besides a font of the time of Edward III. To most
people the monument to Southey will be the chief object of interest. It
is a recumbent figure, with an epitaph in verse by his life-long friend
Wordsworth.
Robert Southey was the son of a Bristol linen-draper, and was educated
at Westminster and Balliol. Southey and Coleridge were much associated
with Lovell, a Bristol Quaker. These three friends made a plan--never
carried out--of going to the wilds of America and returning to the
patriarchal manner of living. They all married three sisters named
Fricker. Unfortunately Southey's wife died insane, and he then married a
very talented lady named Catherine Bowles. In the beginning of the
eighteenth century the Southeys and Coleridges settled in the same house
at Greta, near Keswick, and Mrs. Lovell, widow of Robert Lovell, and her
son joined the household. Here Southey lived till his death in 1843. In
1813 he was made Poet Laureate, and later was given a pension of £300 a
year.
[Illustration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._
ASHNESS BRIDGE, DERWENTWATER.]
ALNWICK CASTLE
=How to get there.=--Train from King's Cross. Great Northern Rly.
=Nearest Station.=--Alnwick.
=Distance from London.=--309 miles.
=Average Time.=--Varies between 7 and 8 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=--Single 43s. 1d. ... 25s. 9d.
Return 86s. 2d. ... 51s. 6d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Northumberland Arms," "Star
Hotel."
=Alternative Route.=--Train from St. Pancras _via_ Sheffield and York.
Midland Railway.
Standing in a magnificent position overlooking the town from which it
takes its name, Alnwick Castle occupies the site of one of the oldest of
the border points of defence. It is believed that a fort existed here
during the Roman occupation, and that a castle was erected on its site
by the Saxons, who named the place _Ealnwic_. Just before the Conquest
the castle and barony were the property of one Gilbert Tyson, who was
slain at the battle of Hastings. His possessions passed into the hands
of the Norman lords De Vesci, who held them till about 1297, when the
castle and barony were bequeathed by the licence of Edward I. to the
Bishop of Durham. Shortly afterwards they were purchased by Lord Henry
de Percy, from whom they have descended regularly to the present owner,
the Duke of Northumberland. The castle is one of the finest examples of
a feudal fortress in England, the walls enclosing an area of five acres,
and the grounds, watered by the Alne, presenting scenes of the most
varied and romantic beauty.
The two north-western round towers of the keep, together with the
Armourer's and Falconer's towers, have recently been swept away in order
to accommodate the new Prudhoe Tower. During the last six years 200
workmen have been employed in transforming the feudal interior of the
castle into a Roman palazzo.
Alnwick, situated so near the border, was the scene of countless raids
and conflicts during the Middle Ages, and with these fights the castle
was always closely associated. It was besieged in 1093 by Malcolm III.,
King of Scotland, and defended by Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland. The
Scottish king and his son Prince Edward both fell during the siege. King
David gained possession of the town in 1135. William the Lion, who took
part with young Richard, afterwards Coeur de Lion, against his father
Henry II., entered Northumberland in 1174, with 80,000 men, and laid
siege to Alnwick; but the attempt was a failure, and William was taken
prisoner.
[Illustration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._
ALNWICK CASTLE.
One of the finest examples of a feudal fortress in England.]
LANERCOST PRIORY, CUMBERLAND
=How to get there.=--Train from Euston _via_ Carlisle. L. and N.W.
Railway.
=Nearest Station.=--Brampton (Lanercost Abbey is situated 2 miles
north of Brampton).
=Distance from London.=--317 miles.
=Average Time.=--Varies between 6 to 9 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=--Single 40s. 10d. ... 24s. 4d.
Return 81s. 8d. ... 48s. 8d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=--At Brampton--"Howard Arms,"
"White Lion Hotel."
=Alternative Route.=--Train from St. Pancras. Midland Railway.
Lanercost Priory is situated in a singularly beautiful sylvan valley
watered by the river Irthing. Only the shell of the chancel remains, but
the nave has been restored, and is now used as the church of the parish.
The walls of the roofless transepts as well as the central tower are
still standing. The pillars on the south side support a much decayed
clerestory, but on the opposite side both the triforium and clerestory
are in a fairly good state of preservation.
A side chapel in the choir contains some very finely carved but battered
altar-tombs belonging to the Dacre family--one of them is believed to be
that of Lord William Howard. Under what was the refectory of the
conventual buildings, one may find the crypt in a very good state of
preservation. In it are preserved some Roman altars and carvings
discovered at various times in the locality. A number of Roman
inscriptions having been discovered on the walls of the Priory Church;
it is generally supposed that much of the building material was obtained
from the Roman wall. The Rev. J. Maughan has argued for the existence of
a Roman station at this point, and its name is believed to have been
_Petriana_.
The monastery adjoining the Priory Church belonged to the order of St.
Augustine, and its endowments consisted of all the land lying between
the Picts' wall and the river Irthing, upon which the buildings stood,
and between Burgh and Poltross.
After the dissolution the monastic buildings were put into a proper
state of repair, and were converted into a private residence by Lord
Thomas Dacre, who built the castellated portion towards the south, which
of course did not belong to the original structure. Half a mile distant
from the priory is Naworth Castle, the historic seat of the Earl of
Carlisle, and Brampton is famous for its _mote_, which was possibly a
Danish fort.
[Illustration: _Valentine & Sons, Ltd_.
LANERCOST PRIORY AND STEPPING-STONES.]
CHILLINGHAM CASTLE, NORTHUMBERLAND
=How to get there.=--Train from King's Cross. Great Northern Rly.
=Nearest Station.=--Belford (6 miles from Chillingham).
=Distance from London.=--323 miles.
=Average Time.=--About 9 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=--Single 44s. 11d. ... 26s. 11d.
Return 89s. 10d. ... 53s. 10d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=--
=Alternative Route.=--Train from St. Pancras _via_ Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Midland Railway.
The castle at Chillingham, the seat of the Earl of Tankerville, is a
remarkably picturesque building, erected in the reign of Elizabeth, on
the site of an older fortress. The castle, which is now in the
occupation of Sir Andrew Noble, to whom it has been let by Lord
Tankerville, contains many valuable portraits.
An ancestor of the Earl of Tankerville, Charles Lord Ossulston, came
into the property in 1695 by marriage with the daughter and heiress of
Lord Grey, Earl of Tankerville, a descendant of the Greys of Chillingham
and Wark, who had much property in Glendale.
The herds of cattle at Chillingham are believed to be survivors of _Bos
primigenius_, the wild ox of Europe, which is the supposed progenitor of
our domestic cattle. This fact is of great scientific interest and is
analogous to the preservation of the few remaining buffaloes in America,
only in this case these wild cattle have been preserved through much
changed conditions for a vastly longer period.
The King, when Prince of Wales, shot one of these animals, but in doing
so had a rather narrow escape. The chief external appearances
distinguishing the cattle from all others are as follows--"their colour
is invariably white; muzzles black, the whole of the inside of the ear
and about one-third of the outside, from the lips downwards, red; horns
white with black tips, very fine and bent upwards; some of the bulls
have a thin upright mane about an inch and a half or two inches long."
It should be pointed out that there is some danger in encountering any
of the herd in the absence of the park-keepers. The calves have been
noticed to have the wild characteristic of dropping when suddenly
surprised.
A reproduction is given opposite of Landseer's picture of the wild
cattle.
[Illustration: _Collection A. Rischgitz._
THE WILD CATTLE AT CHILLINGHAM.
From the painting by Landseer. The herd are survivors of the wild ox or
_Bos primigenius_.]
ST. IVES, CORNWALL
=How to get there.=--Train from Paddington. Great Western Rly.
=Nearest Station.=--St. Ives.
=Distance from London.=--325 miles.
=Average Time.=--About 9 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=--Single 50s. 3d. 31s. 6d. 25s. 1-1/2d.
Return 88s. 0d. 55s. 0d. 50s. 3d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Tregenna Castle," "Porthminster,"
"Western," "Queen's," etc.
=Alternative Route.=--None.
St. Ives is a quiet, old-world fishing town on the northern coast of
Cornwall. The town occupies the western limb of the wide bay of St.
Ives. On the narrow neck of land joining the promontory known as The
Island to the mainland, most of the houses of the fishing town are
packed away in picturesque confusion, while the streets are tortuous in
the extreme. On either side of this isthmus the land rises; behind it
thunder the waves on Porthmeor beach; in front are the deep green waters
of the harbour, protected by two piers. The beach is of firm, hard sand,
upon which the boats are hauled up in safety. The fifteenth-century
church, standing on the site of the former Norman chapel, is a large
building near the harbour. It is said that the Norman structure was
dedicated to St. Ivo, a Persian bishop, who is supposed to have
Christianised the Britons in Cornwall in the ninth century, and to have
erected six chapels. Others think that St. Ia was the daughter of an
Irish chieftain, and was murdered at Hayle. The beautiful font is
thought to be a relic from the former chapel. A fifteenth-century cross
has been dug up in the churchyard and re-erected. On the island is a
little building which is thought to be the remains of one of St. Ivo's
chapels. There is also a fort of Cornu-British origin, and a
grass-covered battery on the hill, whose green slopes are covered with
fishing-nets. Half-way across the bay the river Hayle enters the sea,
and at the furthest extremity is Godrevy Point with its lighthouse.
St. Ives became an important town in the time of Edward III., and its
present church was erected in Henry VI.'s reign. Perkin Warbeck from
Ireland and the Duke of Monmouth from Holland each landed at St. Ives on
their ill-fated ventures.