Continuation, for a month's Tour through England and Wales
| 11th day | Llandudno, Carnarvonshire (one hour by train from Chester), the fashionable Welsh watering place, nestling between two bold limestone headlands called, respectively, the Great and Little Orme. |
| 12th day | Bettws-y-Coed, a very pretty and popular resort of artists and tourists in the Welsh mountains, and a convenient center for many beautiful walking trips and drives. |
| 13th day | Llanberis. By coach through the Pass of Llanberis, the wildest in North Wales. From Llanberis the ascent of Mount Snowdon (the highest mountain in England and Wales, 3,560 feet) can be made by mountain tramroad. |
| 14th day | Carnarvon, an ancient town situated near the southerly end of the Menai Strait, and possessing a remarkable Castle, built in the thirteenth century, one of the handsomest and most extensive mediaeval fortresses in Europe. In the Eagle Tower the first Prince of Wales (afterwards King Edward II) is believed to have been born. Half a mile away are the remains of Segontium, a Roman station or city. |
| 15th day 16th |
Dolgelly, Merionethshire, whence lovely drives i6th " can be made to Torrent Walk, Nannan and the Precipice Walk, Tyn-y-Gross and Pestyll-y- Cain. An ascent can be made of Cader Idris, at the foot of which Dolgelly stands. The view from the summit is thought by many tourists to be even finer than that of Snowdon. At Dolgelly, in 1404, Owen Glendower held a parliament and signed a treaty of alliance with Charles VI of France. |
| 17th day | To Hereford, stopping over at Shrewsbury to see the Abbey Church and that of St. Mary's, and much more that will repay a short visit to this, the quaintest and most interesting of mid- England towns. Hereford has its great Cathedral, of many architectural styles, begun in 1079 and completed nearly five centuries later. From this pleasant old border city many railroads and highways radiate, and a number of interesting excursions may be made. Among these are to Leominster, Malvern, the Black Mountains, Dinedor Hill, etc. |
| 18th day | Leave Hereford by rail through the celebrated Wye Valley. The railway crosses the River Wye several times, affording delightful views. Tin- tern Abbey, founded by Cistercian monks in 1131, is (for an interesting ruin) in a good state of preservation. Continue the journey by coach or foot to Chepstow, five and a quarter miles. The river scenery is charming, and the top of the well-wooded Wyndcliff commands views remarkable for their beauty. From Chepstow proceed by the Severn Tunnel to Bristol. |
| 19th day | Bristol. Spend the morning in this handsome city, the one-time chief port and second city (in population) of England. The traveler should not omit a visit to the Church of St. Mary Radcliffe, the very finest of the parish churches of England. Leave by afternoon boat for Lynmouth. |
| 20th day | Lynmouth, one of the most picturesque villages in beautiful Devonshire. Nine miles from the village is Doone Valley, the country of John Ridd and Lorna Doone, unlike, however, the description of it given in the celebrated romance. Drive along the coast road to Ilfra- combe, one of the finest drives in southwestern England. |
| 21st day | Ilfracombe, the fashionable North Devon watering place (at the mouth of the Bristol Channel), lovely in itself, and favored with as lovely drives and walks about its vicinity. Leave by local steamer for Clovelly. |
| 22nd day | Clovelly, paradise of artists, a picturesque fishing village located in a cleft of the cliffs, and romantic-looking to a degree. The place is very old, and is supposed to have been a Roman settlement. |
| 23d day 24th |
Exeter., Leave Clovelly by coach for Bideford, eleven miles, via the famous Hobby Drive ( the private property of Clovelly Court), which is perhaps the most perfect combination of sea and woodland scenery in England. The traveler is now in the country made famous by Charles Kingsley in " Westward Ho." From Bideford continue by rail to Exeter, the capital of Devonshire. Exeter has figured prominently in England's early history, in the civil wars; and for a short time after his landing at Torbay it was the headquarters of Prince William of Orange. Its Cathedral holds a high rank among the great English churches. |
| 25th day 26th |
Salisbury, reached through the three great dairy counties of England, — Somerset, Dorset ' and Wiltshire,— the land of " Tess." The Cathedral is a splendid example of pure early English architecture, with a notable spire 400 feet in height. The city is familiar to the readers of Dickens, through the connection with it of Martin Chuzzlewit, Mr. Pecksniff and Tom Pinch. Goldsmith's " Vicar of Wakefield " was first issued from the press here. An interesting excursion is to Stonehenge, ten miles distant, on Salisbury Plain. Stonehenge is a collection of huge upright stones, the origin or purpose of which is unknown, but it is believed to be Druidic — certainly a relic of early English life long antecedent to the recorded, or even the traditional, history of the country. |
| 27th day 28th |
The Isle of Wight. Travel by train to South- amp ton, and make trip to Netley Abbey, thence by steamer across the Solent to Cowes, Isle of Wight, " the beautiful isle of the sea " which, within small compass, contains the most charming of English scenery. The green turf, white cliffs, and blue sea make a combination rarely met with elsewhere. Assuming the traveler can only spare one day in this beautiful resort, he had better take the railway around the island, or, if the weather is fine, a trip can be made by small steamer, taking about six hours. |
| 29th day | The New Forest. Returning to Southampton, take train to Lyndhurst, in the heart of the New Forest. The Forest, now not by any means " new," was a hunting domain of the early Nor- ' man kings of England, and was where William Rufus (William II of England) was shot and killed, perhaps accidentally, by an arrow from the bow of Walter Tyrrel. The principal points of interest can be visited in a drive. |
| 30th day | Winchester, a city founded by the Romans, the Anglo-Saxon capital of East Wessex, and later disputing with London the claim to be the capital of England. Winchester is famous for its Cathedral (where Rufus was buried, and probably King Alfred), and its great Collegiate School. Leave Winchester for London. |
The traveler has now seen the most attractive places in east and west England, and he can proceed through the very heart of the country to the English Lakes, before returning to Liverpool.
| 31st day | Mansfield, in Nottinghamshire, about four hours' rail from London on the border of Sherwood Forest, once the favorite resort of Robin Hood and his merry men. Now the forest is largely given over to the palatial homes and parks of dukes and other distinguished members of the English aristocracy, and the district is known as the " Dukeries."
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| 32d day | The drive through the Dukeries includes Welbeck Abbey, the noble seat of the Duke of Portland; Clumber (Duke of Newcastle's); Worksop Manor (until 1840 the Duke of Norfolk's) ; Thoresby (Earl Manvers) ; and Newstead Abbey, the home and burial-place of Lord Byron, where " Childe Harold " was written. |
| 33d day | Matlock, beautifully situated on the River Derwent, and famous for its mineral waters and hydropathic hotels. Make excursion to Haddon Hall (the property of the Duke of Rutland), an ideal example of old English baronial architecture, whose history is one of peace and hospitality; and whence, early in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Dorothy Vernon eloped with John Manners, son of an Earl of Rutland of those days, and into whose family the property passed. Chatsworth House, the palatial seat of the Dukes of Devonshire, is also near by. Inspection of this " Palace of the Peak " is generously permitted by its noble owner, in the summer season. It is filled with priceless art treasures, and the garden and grounds around the house are a dream of beauty |
| 34th day | The Peak District. By rail to Eyam, famous for its heroic rector, Mompesson. During the plague of 1665, 260 of its 350 inhabitants were carried off. In the churchyard of Hathersage lie the remains of " Little John," the gigantic and genial lieutenant of Robin Hood. Castleton is the center of the Peak District. Perched on a rocky height above the village is the Keep of Peveril's Castle, associated with one of the most interesting of the Waverley novels. |
| 35th day | Manchester, the center of the great cotton manufacturing industry of England, and consequently in close touch with the United States, from whose southern states comes the largest proportion of the raw cotton used in this district. As evidence of the magnitude of this trade in England, we may note that the total value of cotton manufactures exported for the year 1905 was nearly a hundred million pounds sterling, equivalent to about five hundred million dollars. From the United States in the same year only a tenth of this amount was exported. |
| 36th day 37th |
To Keswick, headquarters of the English Lake District, close to Derwent Water and (an easy walk north of it) Mount Skiddaw, with Bassenthwaite Water at its foot, and surrounded by fine scenery, full of remembrances of Southey, Wordsworth, the Coleridges and Christopher North. From the summit of Castle Hill enchanting views are to be had. |
| 38th day | To Ambleside, by stage from Keswick, through the heart of the Lake Country , passing Thirlmere with towering Helvellyn on your left, Grasmere Lake (with the pretty village and its venerable church) and Rydalwater, the home of Wordsworth. Wordsworth's grave is in the churchyard of Grasmere. In order to do justice to this charming district many more days should be devoted to its attractions, notably to Coniston (the home of Ruskin), Ulleswater (the most beautiful of the larger lakes) and, above all in impressiveness and beauty. Furness Abbey. |
| 39th day | To Liverpool. Leave Ambleside by steamer to Bowness, on beautiful Lake Windermere, on whose banks are many fine estates with park lands reaching to the water's edge. On elevated ground, overlooking the lake at its head, is the cozy little retreat called " Dove's Nest," for a brief space the home of Mrs. Hemans, the American poetess. From Windermere station, on the hill which shelters Bowness, rail is taken for Liverpool. |
