Day 18: I was a Lakeland Loser

When I was at primary school I had a set of 12 Lakeland colour pencils. They were workmanlike and did the job but I desperately wanted a set of Derwents - the crème-de-la-crème of pencils.  In an ideal world I would have had a set comprising 72 of them.  It was not to be, although occasionally I would be allowed to borrow a Derwent or two if my more privileged friends were feeling generous.  Even so, I have never forgotten the artwork on the Lakeland pencil tin:

Both Derwents and Lakelands were manufactured in the Lake District, originally at Keswick, by the Cumberland Pencil Company. We visited the Keswick Pencil Museum this morning.  Having assumed that pencil manufacture had long ago moved to China, we were pleased to learn that Derwents are still made locally, just not in Keswick.  Lakelands long ago bit the dust but there is now a cheaper Derwent version for the less well-heeled. I imagine if I was a child today, these lesser Derwents would be in my Globite school case. (sob...)

Ahhh... Derwents. They still weave their magic...              
    



                  

Here's that stalking woman again, standing beside a restored Morris Commercial, or Commer van, at the Pencil Factory. The museum tour was quite interesting - a pencil industry sprang up in the area because in the early 1600s, graphite was discovered by shepherds and was originally used to mark sheep. Then its value as a writing material became established and for some decades, graphite's value actually exceeded that of gold. The term 'black market" came from the illicit trading of graphite when the government was trying to regulate its sale. Many farmers and their family members had small cottage industries producing pencils and eventually a pencil manufacturing company was established in 1832.

Just a spit down the road from Keswick, in a sheep paddock near Castlerigg, is a 5000 year old stone circle (although it's more oval than circular).  Apparently the locals gave it little thought for several millennia and then an 18th century scholar recognised its historical importance and it became very popular with tourists for a time.  William Wordsworth visited looking for inspiration but left disillusioned as the area was crowded with day-trippers. Many early Victorians actually chipped off big chunks as souvenirs until finally a heritage order was put on it.  It really is quite awe-inspiring, especially with its backdrop of rugged mountains.                                                                              
                     

This is Dove Cottage at Grasmere, where William Wordsworth lived with his sister Dorothy, and then his wife Mary and several of their children in the early 1800s. Lake Windemere is across the road and would have been visible from the house, although it's not now because of later 19th century buildings.  It was here that Wordsworth wrote his famous Daffodils poem, based on an experience he and Dorothy had had two years earlier, when they did indeed come across a glorious field of daffs. He changed the words a few times after it was published.  His poetry can seem a bit overwrought these days but for the time was mostly well-received.  Mind you, Lord Byron was very sniffy about Wordsworth and the other Lake poets (Southey and Coleridge). In fact Byron often referred to Wordsworth as "Turdsworth".  I chortled loudly when our guide told us this but no one else seemed to find it as amusing.  Geoff actually moved away and pretended he was part of a busload of Chinese tourists.

Life was pretty rugged in Dove Cottage, even though it was a good-sized house. They all brushed their teeth with a bit of twig whose end had been frayed, using salt and soot. (I imagine they each had their own, they didn't share the one bit of twig.) Dorothy Wordsworth lost all her teeth by 40 and then had a set of fetching wooden dentures made.   (I believe George Washington also wore wooden dentures.) More realistic looking teeth became available after the Battle of Waterloo, when the teeth of dead soldiers were removed and fashioned into dentures.   Also, William and his wife Mary had a canopy over their bed so that when it rained, the various types of vermin that lived in the shingle roof didn't fall onto their bed.  The roof often leaked in the wet, so the canopy also acted an umbrella. It was a very cold, dark house but Wordsworth and his wife and sister were very happy there, moving only as their family got larger to Rydal, a 15 minute pony-ride down the road. 

All in all, a splendid and informative day in the Lake District!

Over to Geoff now for huntin', shootin' and fishin' news.  Take it away, Quickdraw....

As usual, Anne has set me a challenge to add anything meaningful to her travelogue, but I can but try.  Perhaps some photos will provide inspiration.

 

 

This is the now defunct pencil factory next to the museum.  As Anne says, the current site is thankfully still in Cumbria.  (I think in Workington, which certainly sounds like a place where hard yakka is still the go.)  Even though the photo may not do it justice, the old building is pretty impressive; take my word for it.)

 

Anyone hanging out for more stone circle photos?  (You would be if you knew how hard it was to find it.)

 



 



 

A quite magical place, although we thought it was bit thoughtless of 20 or so other rubberneckers to arrive at the same time as us.  Fortunately though, the weather was great, which enhanced our experience of it.  By the way, they are in fact sheep in the far background.  I reckon they're pretty lucky to share their paddock with the stone circle, although they showed no sign of appreciating it.

 

Speaking of weather, we were pretty lucky today.  Fine and mild until just before we got home, when it started drizzling, which has continued for the last couple of hours.  Nevertheless, our route today took us past a large part of Lake Windermere, which is picture postcard perfect.  Much like the image on the front of the old Derwent pencil box really.  We've been encouraged to investigate a lake cruise over the next few days, of which there seem to be plenty going.

 

Our impression is that this a very prosperous part of the country, which no doubt contributed to the tidy majority that the Conservatives won yesterday.  Kind of like Killara with more water views, literary and ancient history really.

 

Till tomorrow! xxx