button to main menu  Martineau's Complete Guide to the English Lakes, 1855

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Page 108:-
and the bridge to the left, the road ascends so steeply that the travellers will get out and walk; and many a time will they turn to the sea-view, and the wooded slopes on the way to Bootle, and the rocks, dressed with wild flowers, that enclose the road. Then comes a common covered with fern, in which the greenest of paths form a network: and far below dashes the brown river, between rocky banks; and Duddon Grove, with its conservatories and beautiful grounds and green clearings, is seen in the hollow of the vale. Four miles from Broughton, the bridge at Ulpha Kirk spans the river, and discloses a beautiful view, up and down, One thing which the traveller is always expected to remark is the strange holes (called pots) worn by the waters in the rocks, and the rounding of the edges of the boulders and shelves in the channel. Ulpha Kirk is a mere hamlet; but there is a little inn at which the horses can rest if the party are disposed for a walk to the scene of Robert Walker's life and labours. Ulpha Kirk itself is one of the primitive places where the old manners of the district may yet be traced more clearly than in most road-side settlements. The people still think it no sin to do their farm work on Sundays, when the weather,- so precarious here,- is favourable; and the familiar style of "the priest" in these parts makes the transition from work to worship very natural. Some time since there was a blind "priest" settled there. One Sunday morning, the bell rang before the people were all ready; and especially the stoutest farmer in the neighbourhood, who, detained by some cow, pig; or sheep, entered the church last of all, "thunnerin' down
gazetteer links
button -- Duddon Grove
button -- Duddon Valley
button -- Duddon, River
button -- (inn, Ulpha)
button -- St John's Church
button -- "Ulpha Kirk" -- Ulpha
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