CHAPTER VII.
Coniston, Wastwater and Furness Abbey.
“THIS,” said John Ruskin, speaking of the Vale of Yewdale, “is the most beautiful valley in England.” And it is by Yewdale that Coniston is usually approached. Wherefore let all pay a visit to Coniston, if only for the sake of passing down that charming vale.
The drive from Ambleside along the banks of the Brathay, across Skelwith Bridge and thence over Oxenfell to Yewdale and down to Coniston, is typical of many of the day excursions in Lakeland—the changing scenes of beauty en route are so entrancing in themselves that even without a chief object in view, the drive is well worth taking. For whether it is the rich lichen-covered boulders over which the Brathay gently murmurs, the pastoral enclosures on its banks, with the old boundary walls climbing up the steep fellsides beyond, the feast of colour presented by the river and dark fir trees as we cross Skelwith Bridge, the wild moorland scenery of Oxenfell with that delicious glimpse across Colwith of the Langdale Pikes and Helvellyn, or the larch trees, heather and bracken slopes of Yewdale, interspersed with grey craggy patches, or whether, finally, it is Coniston Lake itself that most impresses us would be impossible to decide with any certainty.
But Coniston Lake alone is one of the sights of Lakeland and holds a high place in the esteem of many lovers of the beautiful in nature, beside Ruskin, who loved it so well that he made his home by its margin.
The lake is about five miles long and not more than half a mile in width. On its Western side it is bounded by low, wooded slopes not unlike those at the lower end of Windermere, while on the opposite side, in great contrast, is seen the fine mountain—Old Man, whose peculiar name is a corruption of the Gaelic, Alt Maen, the High Rock. Below its rugged escarpments nestles the village of Coniston with its church, railway-station and other signs of a thriving tourist centre.
In the church-yard, beneath the fine runic cross, carved with figures symbolical of his writings, is laid to rest John Ruskin, whose name will for all time be most closely associated with this lovely spot. His home, Brantwood, is on the east side of the Lake, about two miles from the village and a mile from Tent Lodge, where Tennyson once resided.
The Furness Railway Company, under the management of Mr. Alfred Aslett, a veritable genius of organization and enterprise, has placed a comfortable steam yacht on Coniston, as well as a most picturesque gondola, and these ply continuously throughout the summer months from Waterhead to Lake Foot. The sail down the lake is one of great beauty, affording magnificent near views of the Old Man, and Dow Crags, with Fairfield, Helvellyn, Red Screes and other Lakeland giants peering over the coronal of wood at the head of the lake. Brantwood, Tent Lodge, the ivy-covered Coniston Hall and other farmsteads are in sight from the water and lend to the scenery an air of domesticity. The view from Beacon Crags, the eminence overlooking the foot of Coniston, commands the entire length of the lake with its glorious background of mountains and is second to none in the district.
If we take the main road past the head of Coniston, in an easterly direction, and follow it up the steep rise to High Cross,