. 
Friday 7th September 2001
Weather:
Mainly cloudy, odd brighter spells
The Lake District
A walk around Rydal Water
( 5 miles )
Another
easy, but lovely walk in the Lake District . . .
.
This
wonderful walk begins at the White Moss Common car park, next to
the road between Grasmere and Rydal
- carefully cross the busy road and follow the path towards the
river, bearing right, ignoring the first wooden footbridge
. 
Go through a gate (above left) and then another, before entering delightful woodland - then cross the next footbridge . . .
. .
. but before going up the steps on the opposite side of the
river,
it's worth a short stroll to the right to enjoy this view of
Grasmere from its outflow
At
the top of the steps, turn left and follow a clear track that
forms the lower part of Loughrigg Terrace
- on reaching this old ruined barn, you're rewarded with the
first tantalising views of Rydal Water
. 
Cross a stream (almost dry the day we were there) via stepping stones and continue ahead and down towards the lake
The views here leave you in no doubt why the poet William Wordsworth was so inspired by the beauty of Rydal Water
William and his family would often picnic on one of the islands in the middle of the lake
As the track leads
us nearer to the shore we get a good view of Nab Scar opposite
- in about half an hour's time, we'll be walking in the opposite
direction on the hillside below the Nab
On a warmer day, this is probably a nice place to take off your boots and socks, and cool down your feet
. 
At a stone wall that reaches the water's edge, we enter some more woodland, emerging via an old metal kissing-gate . . .
. . . and just after, enjoy a lovely view across lily pads back over Rydal Water
. 
Shortly afterwards, we cross another wooden footbridge spanning the Rothay, soon to reach the village of Rydal
. 
St Mary's Church was built during the reign of George IV -
apparently, William Wordsworth helped to choose the site,
but it seems he was not too impressed by the finished product -
well, it looked OK to me
Climbing the road up past the church, we arrive at Rydal Mount, the house where Wordsworth lived from 1813 - 1850
. 
Just above Rydal
Mount, turn left along a bridleway and follow it for the next 2
miles along the slopes below Nab Scar
- the track is the old road between Rydal and Grasmere and at one
time served as a 'corpse road',
along which coffins were carried in the days before Rydal Church
was built
From near Rydal
Mount, a Border Collie, (photo above right), befriended us all
the way back to where we were parked
- we couldn't have possibly left it there near a busy main road,
so Jean settled with it on her knee in the back of the car
whilst I drove back to where we first came across it.
Fortunately, we managed to locate the owner - we never did find
out its name but it was a lovely, friendly dog
Continuing on, as from on the south side, we enjoyed lovely views of Rydal Water from the north path . . .
. . . there's no wonder that Wordsworth and his family loved this place
My only regret is that we didn't enjoy better weather - blue skies and autumn colours would have been perfect
After following the
path steeply downhill, we emerge at the beautifully situated
'Coach House'
from where we soon arrive back at the White Cross Common car park
It's
only a short drive to Grasmere to visit the resting place of the
Wordsworth family
in the peaceful grounds of St Oswald's Church
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