Windermere

Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty:

for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine,

thine is the kingdom ,

O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.

Chronicles 29:11 (Hebrews 1 :3 is also powerful)

A lake thin as a ribbon in northwest England . It is surrounded by mountains and villages. Here are a few people that have at different times called this place home: William Wordsworth 1770 – 1859 poet, Beatrix Potter 1866 – 1943 writer and illustrator, Harriet Martineau 1802- 1876 first female sociologist then Locomotive manufacturer , Edward Bury and his wife Priscilla Susan. The last person on my list, I really hadn’t heard of is the poet Dorothy Gurney.

Let us think about a few of these people as we walk near the lake in the evening and go on a cycle to Wray Castle in the morning.

William Wordsworth worked at Ambleside at the head of Windermere . He was distributor of stamps until he resigned to become Poet Laureate in 1842. Looking at this peaceful scene here are eight lines of a sonnet he wrote when troubled by the Industrial Revolution.

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; -
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This sea that bears her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up gathered like sleeping flowers;
It moves us not...

Then think of Harriet Martineau who lived at ” the Knoll” . She is often thought of as the first female sociologist. Press on her name to hear about her.

Then as we cycle in the morning people are mending a dry stone wall. I stopped to speak to them. It will take a full day to mend a small section.

At Wray Castle there are renovations in progress but we see something new. Beatrix Potter’s father was a photographer and his work didn’t come to be noticed until his daughter became famous so here are some photos he took. All in sepia. They are special in their own way.

Here is one of Peter Rabbits catch phrases as written by Beatrix Potter.

A good rabbit never gives up!

and

Let’s hop to it!

Peter rabbit

And here is something she said about her writing

If I have done anything , even a little , to help small children enjoy honest, simple pleasures , I have done a bit of good.

Beatrix Potter

To end with a song that you may have heard at a wedding long ago or recently to hear press on Dorothy Gurney ” O Perfect Love”. She lived at Pullwyke near Ambleside.

We are travelling well. Forgive me if I don’t read much as we are three traveling together and it is busy. I will pick up when we get back.

Sandyroybessbugzy 🙂