Allan Bank, Grasmere, Cumbria

Today we had a familiarisation day at Allan Bank, Grasmere.  This is a National Trust property, and it is opening to the public on March 31st.  It was built between 1805 and 1808 by John Gregory Crump, a wealthy attorney and merchant from Liverpool, during the era of Georgian Villa building in the Lake District by wealthy industrialists.  The Wordsworth family were the first tenants, moving here from Dove Cottage in 1808 with William, his wife Mary, their 3 children, his sister Dorothy, the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Mary's sister, Sara Hutchinson.  Thomas DeQuincey was also a frequent visitor!  The Wordsworths had witnessed the house being built and William referred to it as "that Temple of Abomination" as he felt it spoilt their view from Dove Cottage.  They outgrew Dove Cottage and Allan Bank was offered for rent and was a much bigger house.  Dorothy came to love the views from Allan Bank looking over towards Grasmere.

 

Dorothy Wordsworth's comments on the view from the new Bay Window in William's study room 1809

The Wordsworths lived here until 1811, during which time they had 2 more children.  William wrote his Guide to the Lake District here amongst other influential works and also focussed on family life and politics.  They had great problems with smoking chimneys which plagued them throughout their tenancy.  Mr Crump was ready to move into his property in 1811, so the Wordsworths moved to the Rectory opposite the church in Grasmere.

Thomas Dawson, Attorney from Salford, owned the house form 1834 til around 1851.  He extended the house and his crest can be seen on the front elevation today.  He also owned Glenthorne nearby and had stables built on land below Allan Bank.  He was a great collector and had a museum here. His two daughters succeeded him and lived in both properties.

 Dr Thomas Arnold, Head of Rugby School, (author of Tom Brown's Schooldays), rented the house in 1832 for the summer whilst his house, Fox How, at Rydal was being built.  He was a close friend of the Wordsworths, now living at Rydal Mount, and they frequently visited him here.

Canon Hardwick Drummond Rawnsley, one of the founders of the National Trust, bought the house in 1915 and retired here in 1917. His wife died before he moved in and he subsequently married his secretary Eleanor Simpson, who wrote his biography.  He died in 1920 and is buried at Crosthwaite church in Keswick where he preached. It was said "that England would be a much duller and less healthy and happy country if he had not lived and worked".  He was a tireless campaigner and social reformer!  He left the house to the National Trust and they took over the property in 1951, but Eleanor carried on living here until her death in1959.

The house has had tenants living in it for the past 25 years and last March suffered a fire in the roof space which damaged a large portion of the property.  Restoration has now taken place and the tenants have moved to a smaller property.  For the first time Allan Bank will be open to the public.  It will be unfurnished and each room will have a theme, for example, Wordworth's study will be the Poetry Room and Canon Rawnsley's bedroom will be the Campaign room, showcasing the work of this great man in his fight against Thirlmere reservoir and other causes.  The public will be invited to take part in activities and also to comment on the future of the house.  This is a great opportunity for everyone to be involved in the future of this property!

 

Fireplace in Canon Rawnsley's Drawing Room, possibly from Keswick School of Industrial Arts

Back to our familiarisation day: The Curator, Sarah Woodcock, gave us a guided tour of the extensive grounds including garden and woodland paths rising steeply uphill to a viewing point and then to a viewing tunnel.  Many self-seeded trees have been cleared and paths are being built and woodchipped.  We passed from the main garden to the old kitchen garden where the quadrants can be imagined and there is the ruin of a potting shed,

Garden view looking towards Grasmere

 and then climbed up hill through the woods and came to a viewing point which would have had extensive views towards Helm Crag and Easedale and also back across Grasmere.  The latter view is obstructed by the excess trees in the wood at the moment:

View point on wooded hillside, Allan Bank

From here we carried on and saw paths being constructed on the hillside and carried on down the hill to the "viewing tunnel".  This looked a bit like the entrance to a horse level in a mine!

Entrance to the "Viewing Tunnel"

 We emerged from the end of the tunnel to find ourselves above the rear of the house and then dropped down and round to a building that resembles an old Chapel:

Exiting the Viewing Tunnel to arrive above the rear of the house!

 

Is this a chapel in the grounds?

 

 After our interesting tour of the garden and grounds we went into the older part of the house to view the rooms which will be open to the public.  The house is unfurnished and undecorated but ready for your ideas and comments about its future!  Come along from March 31st between 10 am and 5 pm every day (last admission 4 pm).  Entry £3.50 with concessions and family rates.  Free to National Trust members. Self-service refreshments will be available and people will be able to wander at leisure between the rooms and comment on the various themes and displays and take part in various activities.  Walk in the garden and if you are feeling energetic walk round the wooded hill behind the house and visit the viewing point and tunnel.  This property is a wonderful addition to the homes of the Wordsworths open to the public, but also has the benefit of showcasing the work of Canon Rawnsley, one of the founders of the National Trust, as well as being an example of a Georgian and Victorian house built by two wealthy industrialists.

 

Soft Snowshoe Shuffle in the Northern Pennines

Over the last two weekends we have been able to take advantage of the wonderful snow conditions and go out on to the Pennines snowshoeing! Snow shoes are a great way of getting about on the rolling fells in the snow - you don't sink in as far as you do in walking boots and walking is much easier. The snow shoes also have the added bonus of a little set of crampons on the underside, so if you happen to find a bit of ice to walk over then you get some grip! The Pennines are ideal for snow-shoeing and we certainly had a great time over the 3 days we were out. Our first day was one of fantastic views as there was a cloud inversion over the Eden Valley with the trees of the Penrith Beacon appearing as an island in a white sea! We were in bright sunlight looking out towards the Lake District fells and the Solway Firth with the Pennines around us:

        From near Hartside, looking out over the Solway with a cloud inversion in the Eden Valley

We snow-shoed out along the Pennines to Fiend's Fell and then Little Knapside Hill, and then followed the fence down until we met the line of the old tramway, which went from the lead mines on Melmerby Scar out to the main road - then the ore would have gone to Alston to be smelted. The tramway was covered with heather and the snow was a bit wetter so snow-shoeing was a bit harder than we thought! We passed a line of grouse butts - evidence of the current use (in season) of this part of the world. Red grouse flew up and disappeared off with their characteristic call of "go-back, go-back, go-back". It was a pleasant journey gently down hill until a small rise back to the cafe!
The following day we took a couple of friends out with us as they wanted to try snow-shoeing - there were plenty of interested walkers and skiers enquiring as to how the snow-shoes worked and how effective they were when we were out on day 1. Day 2 saw us introducing Jill and Mary to snow-shoeing and they both found it a pretty easy way to get around in the snow.

                                              Mary, Mel and Jill at summit of Fiend's Fell

Day 3 was a week later when we decided to try a journey by snow-shoe across the Pennines. Our friends, Lee and Rachel, joined us and we took our car up to Hartside and set off from there, travelling via Fiend's Fell to Knapside Hill above Melmerby Scar - site of lead mining and the start of the tram way we had walked on the week before. The weather was fine but we were in cloud on the tops, so no good views for us! Ian and Lee were expert navigators so we always knew where we were!

                                                        Mel at lunch at Knapside summit

After lunch at Knapside we carried on under Dun Edge and crossed the Roman road of the Maiden Way (which goes from Kirby Thore over the Pennines to Whitley Castle Roman fort near Alston and then on to Hadrian's Wall at Carvoran) and then followed the wall along to Brown Hill where we dropped down into the green lane which heads down towards Ousby by Fellside Farm. It was a long, long way down off the fell!! As we hit the end of the walled lane we had to take our snow-shoes off as we ran out of snow, so we then walked on down to our village and home! About 8 miles and 6 hours snow-shoeing! All it needed was a shuttle up to pick up the car from Hartside and then we were done! A good walk, but a shame we didn't have the fantastic views of the week before.

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