AND THE HOME OF ROBERT SOUTHEY

=How to get there.=—­Train from Euston.  L. and N.W.  Railway. =Nearest Station.=—­Keswick. =Distance from London.=—­300 miles. =Average Time.=—­Varies between 7 to 10-1/4 hours.

                     1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares=.—­Single 42s. 0d. 26s. 7d. 24s. 1d. 
          Return 81s. 0d. 53s. 0d. 48s. 2d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=—­“Keswick Hotel,” “Royal Oak,”
  “Queen’s,” etc.
=Alternative Routes.=—­Train from King’s Cross, Great Northern
  Railway.  Train from St. Pancras, Midland Railway.

Keswick is much resorted to by visitors, as it forms convenient headquarters for exploring the Cumberland part of the Lake District.  It is a small and not very beautiful town, containing several large hotels.  It is situated in a flat valley through which the Derwent and its tributaries flow, and lies near the north end of Derwentwater Lake.  Hills surround it on every side, while the mountains of Skiddaw shield it on the north.  Since the discovery of plumbago in the district, Keswick has been famed for its lead-pencils.  A renowned week of religious services, known as the “Keswick Convention,” takes place here.

Crosthwaite, to the north-west of the town, is famous for its twelfth-century church dedicated to St. Kentigern.  It has a long battlemented roof and massive square tower, and possesses many old brasses and monuments, besides a font of the time of Edward III.  To most people the monument to Southey will be the chief object of interest.  It is a recumbent figure, with an epitaph in verse by his life-long friend Wordsworth.

Robert Southey was the son of a Bristol linen-draper, and was educated at Westminster and Balliol.  Southey and Coleridge were much associated with Lovell, a Bristol Quaker.  These three friends made a plan—­never carried out—­of going to the wilds of America and returning to the patriarchal manner of living.  They all married three sisters named Fricker.  Unfortunately Southey’s wife died insane, and he then married a very talented lady named Catherine Bowles.  In the beginning of the eighteenth century the Southeys and Coleridges settled in the same house at Greta, near Keswick, and Mrs. Lovell, widow of Robert Lovell, and her son joined the household.  Here Southey lived till his death in 1843.  In 1813 he was made Poet Laureate, and later was given a pension of L300 a year.

[Illustration:  Photochrom Co., Ltd.

ASHNESS BRIDGE, DERWENTWATER.]

ALNWICK CASTLE

=How to get there.=—­Train from King’s Cross.  Great Northern Rly. =Nearest Station.=—­Alnwick. =Distance from London.=—­309 miles. =Average Time.=—­Varies between 7 and 8 hours.

                     1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=—­Single 43s. 1d. ... 25s. 9d. 
          Return 86s. 2d. ... 51s. 6d.