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| View of Windmere from the Fell! |
After our night in Durham, we piled onto the coach to reach
our final destination for the next three days: The Lake District. Once we reached the outskirts, our
entire landscape changed: everywhere there were mountains (called fells here) and
lakes. It was a combination of
Lake Geneva in Wisconsin and Colorado.
Upon
reaching our hostel that was on the shores of Lake Windermere, a majority of us
immediately went out to the lake.
My friend Laura and I rented a kayak for two hours. We paddled all around the Lake and
stopped at one shore to see Wray Castle, which is where Beatrix Potter once
lived. After a lovely afternoon on
the lake, we all huddled around the TV to enjoy the Olympics, which became our
patter for the next couple days: play outside all day and enjoy the games at
night. Since we were watching on
the BBC we mostly heard about England’s standings in the games. I have no idea how America is doing in
the games on than the fact that Michael Phelps broke a record for the most medals.
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| Wray Castle |
Our
second day was dedicated to the man who made the Lake District famous: the
romantic poet William Wordsworth.
We first visited Dove Cottage, which is where he lived for eight and
half years and had his period of most productivity. The cottage was a pub before Wordsworth moved in, so it was
very dark and cramped. The garden
was beautiful as was the view of Lake Grasmere, where Wordsworth liked to
ramble. We saw the churchyard
where all the Wordsworths are buried and we enjoyed the small quaint town of Grasmere.
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| Dove Cottage |
Then we drove to Rydal Mount which was
Wordsworth’s second home. It was
much bigger and lighter than the Cottage.
Wordsworth moved there to accommodate his growing family. The garden was gorgeous as was the view
of the Lake. Wordsworth spent 35
years making the garden look like wilderness. I’m not sure why it took that long to make it look natural,
but his efforts paid off into a beautiful garden. We ended our visit with a water meadow walk back. A few of us broke off from the group on
the way back and hiked up on of the fells. The view was absolutely stunning. We could see for miles around and see all of the town and
most of the Lake. That night we
took a cruise on the lake and got to enjoy the view of the sun setting behind
the fells.
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| Rydal Mount |
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| Beatrix Potter's Garden! |
Tuesday
was our last full day in the Lake District, and it was free for us to do
whatever we wanted. I went with
two other girls to Hawkshead and Hilltop Farm to visit the Beatrix Potter
sites. Hilltop Farm was Potter’s
country retreat and studio. It was
filled with her possessions. The
garden was full of food that Peter Rabbit would have enjoyed: radishes, beans,
and cabbage. There are still sheep
on the property. Potter had
several animals on her farm and breed sheep. Throughout her lifetime she worked tirelessly to conserve
the land of the Lake District.
Every time she sold a book, she bought a farm. Without her efforts, the Lake District would look very
different today. We saw a gallery
in Hawkshead that had her original pen and ink drawings for Peter Rabbit. The idea came from a letter she wrote to the son of her old
governess. The boy was sick and
Potter sent him a letter with the story of a naughty rabbit who got into a
garden with accompanying drawings.
She decided to turn the story into a book for children. When no one would publish her book, she
self-published 250 copies, and then the publishers came knocking on her
door. It was a fun time to relive
one of my favorite stories from childhood and to learn more about the author’s
life.
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| Beatrix Potter's Cottage |
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| Ambleside Waterfall |
After
the visit, I enjoyed the town of Ambleside near our hostel. I hiked up the top of beautiful
waterfall and then meandered around town.
The town is full of mountaineering stores; apparently the Lake District
is mecca for the outdoorsy types of England. That night we had our final party in England, but it wasn’t
just any party, it was an engagement party. Caroline Ryan and Peter Cunningham got engaged that day! It
was exciting to celebrate with them.
Wednesday
morning we again boarded the coach for our final long journey back to
Oxford. Besides some rest stops
and a lunch break we only stopped once in Coventry to see Coventry
Cathedral. This cathedral is
unique for having an ancient half and a modern half. The ancient medieval cathedral was bombed during WWII
causing much destruction and loss of life. Coventry responded with forgiveness and rebuilt their church
with the emphasis on being a church about reconciliation and justice. It was amazing to see a church respond
to Christ’s call to love our enemies and turn a destructive event into a
powerful message that changes lives.
In addition, the church has a small connection to Wheaton: alumni John
Piper designed the beautiful baptistery window.
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Reconciliation Statue at Coventry
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| Altar at Coventry |
The
Lake District was the perfect ending to the program. I’ve had a wonderful summer, and I am sad to see the program
come to a close.
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| Windmere |
