Lake District Part3
William Wordsworth (1770 – 1850)
I was introduced to this romantic English poet when I was studying A levels through his poems Daffodils and “We are Seven”. At the time it didn’t make much sense to me, it still doesn’t, though fully fault of mine, Wordsworth is innocent. He was born and lived here in LD.
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
I don’t fancy much the Daffodils; there are many more beautiful flowers in my garden. But, the choice belongs to the beholder.
“We are Seven” was the poem that really inspired me, still does. It is the story of an innocent eight years old girl , not aware of the only absolute truth of this life, that is, death. They were seven brother and sisters. Two of them have passed away, buried in the church-yard. But to her they are still part of the family, “We are seven!”
I met a little cottage Girl:
She was eight years old, she said;
How many may you be?”
“How many? Seven in all,” she said
Then did the little Maid reply,
“Seven boys and girls are we;
Two of us in the church-yard lie,
Beneath the church-yard tree.”
“But they are dead; those two are dead!
Their spirits are in heaven!”
‘Twas throwing words away; for still
The little Maid would have her will,
And said, “Nay, we are seven!”
Wordsworth lived in a house named Dove Cottage. We visited the Dove Cottage which is near to the lake Grasmere. My wife bought a book of her poetry. Kids were more interested in the Frankenstein museum just next door.
Frankenstein
Mary Shelley, the author of this famous horror novel “Frankenstein” also lived in LD. In her story she describes a person called Frankenstein who creates a monster creature from the bones and fleshes of the dead and gives it life through experiments. Sometimes this monster itself is referred to as Frankenstein which is wrong. Anyway this monster was ugly so human hated him. As a result he started taking revenge from all humans. He, feeling lonely, demands his creator Frankenstein to create a female companion for him. On refusal he starts killing people. Eventually the Frankenstein dies and the monster leave for the North Pole, never to return.
Slate & Slatee to Pencil& Rubber
Thousands of years ago, Romans and Egyptians used a rod of hazardous metal ‘Lead’ to write, hence came the name “Lead Pencil”. Few hundred years ago, Lead was replaced by a safer material Graphite. Large deposits of Graphite were discovered in Borrowdale LD (Lake District) in 1564 making this place the centre of Pencil making. To make a pencil Graphite is ground, mixed with clay and shaped like a thin rod, which is then encased in Cedar wood. Sometimes it is mixed with colours to make a colour pencil. Some pencils are crowned with humble rubber as an eraser.
We visited the Pencil Museum in Keswick which houses many articles of history of Pencil industry. It has a 26 feet long colour pencil which was once the longest in world.
Pencil Goes to Space
In early days of space travel, USA spent millions of dollar to invent a ballpoint that would write in weightless space environment. Russians, on the other hand, equipped their astronauts with a pencil; a simple solution to a sophisticated space problem.
Bridge Houe
This Bridge House was built in Ambleside in 17th century on a canal in order to save Land tax! A novel idea.
Castlerigg Stone Circles
These stone circles were built 1000s of years ago, probably for worshipping.
The End..