A peaceful evening scene at Loughrig Tarn with the Langdale Fells in the distance. The Lakeland Poets loved such places. ‘They call home the heart to quietness‘. (Dorothy Wordsworth)
These photos, kindly given by photographers, are from the Lake District National Park website.
The stillness of the fells
Most visitors will be fascinated with archaelogy here. But the true lover of the fells will have all eyes for mighty Blencathra part hidden in mist in the background.
Why does a man climb mountains? for most walkers it will be quite simply a deep love of the hills, a love that has grown over the years whatever motive first took them there, the feeling that these hills are friends, tried and trusted friends always there when needed.
Alfred Wainright – who loved this majestic fell.
As we climb the fells the air is still. Below in the dale are the tiny trees and farms, their stone walled fields spread out like a beautiful map. The only sounds are the sound of sheep nibbling the grass, the music of a rill gentle cascading down the hill side, a pair of ravens calling.
Book 4 is dedicated to the hardiest of all fellwalkers, the sheep of Lakeland, the truest, lovers of the mountains, their natural homes and providers of their food and shelter.
Alfred Wainwright’s Pictorial Guidebook 4 – The Southern Fells
If you want to get away from the crowds of tourists this is the place to be; quiet, rugged, dramatic and surrounded by some majestic fells including the Scafells and Great Gable.
The fleeting hour of life of those who love the hills is quickly spent, but the hills are eternal. Always there will be the lonely ridge, the dancing beck, the silent forest; always there will be the exhilaration of the summits. These are for the seeking, and those who seek and find while there is still time will be blessed both in mind and body.
Alfred Wainwright
Wainwright, surely a modern Lakeland ‘poet’ himself, loved to be on the hills alone. A number of times he chose to sleep on the fells in order to enjoy the peace and quietness of the morning sunrise, hours before most morning fellwalkers would arrive at the summit.
‘Prayer on Skidaw’ by John Ruskin
I always had a way of praying on hill summits when I could get quiet on them …….once the clause of the (Prayer Book) Litany ‘for all that travel by land or water’ came to my mind so I prayed it….what a strange intense meaning it had up there. One felt so much more the feebleness of the feeble there, where all was wild and strong …..The phrase ‘and show thy pity on all prisoners and captives’….came so wonderfully where I had the feeling of absolute boundless liberty.
Quietness in Grasmere
Fair scene,
Most loved by evening and her dewy star!
O, ne’er may man, with touch unhallowed, jar
The perfect music of thy charm serene!
Still, still unchanged, may one sweet region wear
Smiles that subdue the soul to love and tears and prayerA Remembrance of Grasmere by Felicia Hemans 1793-1835
Warm and mild, after a fine night of rain…. The woods extremely beautiful with all autumnal variety and softness. …. Rydale was very beautiful, with spear-shaped streaks of polished steel…. Grasmere very solemn in the last glimpse of twilight. It calls home the heart to quietness.
From Dorothy Wordworth’s Grasmere Journal
Thank you for visiting. I hope you have your own places that ‘call home the heart to quietness’ too.
