A five mile walk in the footsteps of literary greats - by Dr Penny Bradshaw.
Ambleside’s literary associations date back to the rise of picturesque tourism in the 18th century.
In the years that followed William Wordsworth’s arrival in nearby Grasmere in 1799, a host of writers were drawn to the Lake District. Celebrated poets and novelists, from John Keats to Charlotte Bronte, visited Ambleside and other writers, such as Thomas De Quincey and Matthew Arnold, had homes here.
By the 1850s Ambleside was at the centre of a Victorian vogue for ‘literary tourism’, with visitors exploring the region through the writing it inspired.
This Literary Walking Tour allows today’s visitor to experience the town in a similar way. The half-day walk takes in locations that were special to many writers and provides dozens of extracts and quotations from their works.
About the author
Dr Penny Bradshaw is thematic lead for Cultural Landscapes within the Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas at the University of Cumbria. She is also Programme Leader for the MA in Literature, Romanticism and the English Lake District.
Penny specialises in regional Romanticism and literary responses to place. Other recent publications include: Literary Lancaster (2016), Ann Radcliffe’s Observations During a Tour to the Lakes (2014), and The Lake Poems of John Wilson (2012).
Details
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PAGES: 44.
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SIZE: 195mm x 135mm.
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FORMAT: Softback with laminated waterproof cover.
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Printed in Penrith by H&H Reeds on woodland-friendly paper under the Woodland Carbon Code. For every copy of this book printed H&H Reeds work with the Woodland Trust to plant native woodland.
Reviews
Cumbria Life magazine, July 2021
"Once a hotbed of writers and a longstanding tourist destination, in Penny's excellent new tour of the popular Cumbrian town of Ambleside is repopulated with these 'literary ghosts'. Clear and approachable, Penny invites William and Dorothy Wordsworth, John Keats, Charles Dickens and Harriet Martineau to shadow our steps as we take a short circular walk via Rydal, also accompanied by more recent contributions from Fleur Adcock and Rebecca Tope."
***Here at Inspired by Lakeland we hate waste. Therefore we are giving away a free Foods tea towel with every £15 spent. These are almost perfect tea towels...just a teeny tiny spelling mistake (bet you won't spot it!) means we will not sell them and hope our lovely customers might like them as a free gift. (Whilst stocks last.)***