Wordsworth Trust and the Lake District

I fell in love with the Lake District. This is where William Wordsworth lived with his sister. They would wander the hills, and she would keep a journal which he often turned into the poetry that earned him the title of Poet Laureate. As Wordsworth said, poetry is "emotion recollected in tranquility." I think I could spout some pretty amazing poetry if I lived here too.

The view from the front of our hostel in Ambleside

Some of my worshippers when I arrived with breakfast. One guy practically sat at my feet, so I taught him to jump. His name was Ferdinand.

Fluffykins, so named by my English Professors children.

Dove Cottage- the Wordsworth home where the better part of his poetry was composed.

I got to recite Wordsworth's "We Are Seven" here in his garden.

The pen and ink set given to Wordsworth's twelve year old cousin for writing the national anthem. Wordsworth refused the title of Poet Laureate because he didn't want to write on demand for special occasions, so they gave it to him as a title only. When asked to write an anthem by Queen Victoria, he asked his cousin to do it. This was her gift the the young cousin in thanks.

I got to hold this first edition of Lyrical Ballads. It is two hundred years old and is called the "book that will never be opened" because the binding is so frail.

A journal used by Dorothy, William Wordsworth, and Samuel Coleridge on their rambles.

First edition Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. Of four friends, she was the only one to finish the ghost story when they had a competition. Though Lord Byron never finished his story, scholars suspect that his physician based the dark and handsome vampire Dracula on his patient.

Wordsworth family graves

While out walking we discovered this fallen tree which has been covered in coins for who knows how many years. I added a penny of my own. Someday archeologists are going to be very confused.

Wordsworth and his family grew too big for Dove cottage and bought a lovely house on Rydal Mount that has a stunning garden, and an adorable garden that the professor's children christened Garfield. 

We also visited the garden and falls not far from the house at Rydal Mount.