And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!
He, too, is no mean preacher:
Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your teacher
A trip to Dove Cottage...
The team looks over the same snowy fells that William and Dorothy would have seen from their terrace garden - Kirsty Tyler
Kirsty describes a snowy team trip to Grasmere full of words and wellbeing.
On December 4th The Bay team were lucky enough to be invited to Dove Cottage in Grasmere by the Wordsworth Trust.
Snow nearly cancelled the trip, but thankfully the roads cleared and we were instead treated to the beauty of the fells and dales of the Lake District being coated by a white blanket.
The team listening to Jeff outside Dove Cottage
We were met by Jeff, Principal Curator and Head of Learning and Victoria, Assistant to the Curatorial and Learning Team, with a short reading from Dorothy Wordsworth’s Grasmere Journal really setting the tone for the day.
We took a walk around the humble cottage where Dorothy and William, and later on William’s wife, Mary and their children lived. Small and cosy, (with plenty of tables for writing on), and from the back terrace garden, beautiful views across Grasmere.
Clouds, lingering yet, extend in solid bars
Through the grey west; and lo! these waters, steeled
By breezeless air to smoothest polish, yield
A vivid repetition of the stars
The Wordsworths moved to Grasmere to be closer to nature, feeling that nature was the key to happiness (...we can relate). Between them, Dorothy and William wrote about the landscape, flora, fauna and about how nature made them feel – this was the start of Romanticism, looking at the natural world and how their emotional lives could be explored through the wild and beautiful outdoors.
Kirsty holding Dorothy and William's commonplace book from 1800 - Mike McDonnell
The real treat was after lunch, when we visited the Reading Room in the Jerwood Centre next door – the archive and library for the trust. Walking into the Reading Room itself was incredible enough for me, a huge book lover and library appreciator my whole life, but I never imagined that we’d get the chance to hold some of William and Dorothy’s actual notebooks.
When Jeff asked for a volunteer I pretty much jumped out of my seat at the opportunity, and had the nerve-wracking task of taking the 223 year old notebook out of it’s box (after some careful instruction).
The notebook was a commonplace book; a notebook kept in the house for anyone to use, so it had text in from both Dorothy (with a number of shopping lists, recipes and all sorts), and William, (more poetry and prose), and we were able to decipher some of the writing.
Between the snowy fells, the wonderful knowledge from Jeff and a real insight into how the Wordsworths lived it was a magical day, I've now started taking a small book of William and Dorothy Wordsworth's writing out with me, and feel inspired to write more for my own wellbeing.
We are planning to work with the Wordsworth Trust around the Bay in 2024, bringing creative writing, nature and wellbeing together, just as the Romantics did in the 19th century.
If there’s anything you’d like to see as part of that line-up, then drop a suggestion to info@thebay.org.uk and we’ll take it into consideration when planning our events in for the new year!
Comes that low sound from breezes rustling o'er
The grass-crowned headland that conceals the shore?
No; 'tis the earth-voice of the mighty sea,
Whispering how meek and gentle he 'can' be!