![]() ![]() Well, in Cumbria it’s best to be prepared all year round. ![]() You may know the saying ‘Ne’er cast a clout till May is out’, which could refer to the month or the blossom. Sitting on a wooden bench it was a joy to listen to the River Rothay burbling away under the stone bridge, the ducks quacking as they started house-building for their forthcoming families and the many birds singing their little hearts out in the spring sunshine. Here many people have sponsored a personally engraved slate paving stone, a shrub, or a wild daffodil and there’s an air of peace and tranquility that the poet laureate would have very much appreciated. He then wandered off to visit quaint Dove Cottage and I went into the Wordsworth Daffodil Garden. “Which William is the right one?” he asked, looking over at two old tombstones with the same names … A couple of past-their-best daffodils sagged disconsolately in front of their champion’s simple stone. In the summer it is almost impossible to get close to what has become a shrine for visitors from around the world, but this time there was just a solitary American. In spring the village blooms into life as a ‘host of golden daffodils’ made famous by local poet, William Wordsworth, seem to be permanently ‘fluttering and dancing in the breeze.’ My first stop was to pay a quick visit to the poet’s family grave in ancient St Oswald’s churchyard. Then it was on towards Windermere, along the lakeshore, past the long, white frontage of the Low Wood Bay Hotel, beside peaceful Rydal Water and into historic Grasmere village with its lovely lake. It always lifts my heart and reminds me why I live in this part of the world. As you dip down to the Crook roundabout you get to your first really good view of the Lake District fells. I went up the A6 through the little market town of Milnthorpe, past the ancient topiary gardens at Levens Hall and on to the A591 past Kendal. The drive from Carnforth to Grasmere is such a pleasure. Spring is the perfect time of year to visit one of Britain’s favourite destinations. One lovely spring day, I spent a magical time photographing Lake District daffodils, exploring an evocative old house that Wordsworth used to live in and discovering that sheep may safely graze in Dora’s Field. ![]()
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