Number in series 26; Year of publication 1932 - Fell and Rock ...
Number in series 26; Year of publication 1932 - Fell and Rock ...
Number in series 26; Year of publication 1932 - Fell and Rock ...
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ALL DOWN THE VALLEYS 175With<strong>in</strong> the dark cleft <strong>of</strong> Piers Gill is the most orthodox riverrock-climb <strong>of</strong> the District; but there are plenty <strong>of</strong> sport<strong>in</strong>gscrambles, where one can get sufficiently wet, up the rockycascades <strong>of</strong> Whelpside <strong>and</strong> Birkside Gills, <strong>and</strong> many anotherless famous beck.In these days <strong>of</strong> little leisure, when fast cars press onwardsto their dest<strong>in</strong>ation at the foot <strong>of</strong> the climbs, it is <strong>in</strong>evitablethat some even <strong>of</strong> the loveliest spots between recognised centresshould rema<strong>in</strong> unfrequented <strong>and</strong> unknown. For every dozenmen who from the Thirlmere road raise affectionate eyestowards Launchy or Fisher Gill, scarcely one would be foundwith a real <strong>and</strong> lov<strong>in</strong>g familiarity with the long, slid<strong>in</strong>g cascades<strong>of</strong> Shoulthwaite Gill, retired <strong>and</strong> quiet <strong>in</strong> the valley beh<strong>in</strong>dRaven Crag <strong>and</strong> the Benn. Yet a whole day could be spent byits pools, <strong>and</strong> on die low, frown<strong>in</strong>g crags that overshadow it;<strong>and</strong> there will be noth<strong>in</strong>g but the raven's croak <strong>and</strong> the sight <strong>of</strong>a few chance bilberry-pickers to disturb the solitude.On Bank Holidays, when charabancs roar through Borrowdale<strong>and</strong> deposit their troops <strong>of</strong> tourists at the falls <strong>of</strong> Lodore,there is silence <strong>and</strong> lonel<strong>in</strong>ess by the side <strong>of</strong> AppletrccworthBeck; <strong>and</strong> the River Lickle, with its broad green track runn<strong>in</strong>gthrough the high bracken on either side, is a delightful start<strong>in</strong>gpo<strong>in</strong>t for a stroll over Dunnerdale <strong>Fell</strong>s, <strong>and</strong> the lone, rockysummit <strong>of</strong> Caw. And when the daffodils at Duddon Bridge are<strong>in</strong> their pride, he is wise who forsakes their lovel<strong>in</strong>ess for thehidden woods <strong>of</strong> Colton Beck, where they grow <strong>in</strong> rival beauty,scattered, difficult <strong>of</strong> access, but unfenced <strong>and</strong> unforbidden.The glory <strong>of</strong> the rivers <strong>of</strong> Lakel<strong>and</strong> is a tale that has no end<strong>in</strong>g.Always there is someth<strong>in</strong>g fresh to discover <strong>and</strong> to delight.One alone—the Derwent—affords many a lovely glimpse, fromits source <strong>in</strong> the high hills, along its w<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs at the foot <strong>of</strong>Johnny Wood <strong>and</strong> through the birches <strong>of</strong> Borrowdale, to itsslow, dignified entrance <strong>in</strong>to the lake. On one broad reach <strong>of</strong> theriver there I have seen the simultaneous flash <strong>of</strong> four k<strong>in</strong>gfishersalong the willow-fr<strong>in</strong>ged bank; <strong>and</strong> it is a green, pellucid stretch<strong>of</strong> the Derwent near Rosthwaite that comes unfail<strong>in</strong>gly <strong>in</strong>tom<strong>in</strong>d at the words, " He leadeth me beside the still waters."But perhaps the best loved, the most perfect <strong>of</strong> all the riversis the Esk; the falls <strong>of</strong> L<strong>in</strong>gcove <strong>and</strong> Cowcove <strong>and</strong> the UpperEsk, <strong>and</strong> the pools, the pools! To descend from Bowfell or