Ambleside. Aug. 16Honey dear :-
We're staying on at the Walmsleys, partly because it's cheap, partly because of the society of our friends, partly because we have nowhere else in sight, partly because we hope to get some mail if we wait long enough! We wrote to have our mail meet us in Liverpool, and it didn't do it - thought we thought we allowed plenty of time. Now we are hoping to have it get here before we leave. It is nearly two weeks since we had some in Okehampton.
The Walmsley house is less comfortable as to beds - I meet a feather-bed with great calmness now - and there's no service as to shoes or hot water or luggage - but the food is abundant and good. We serve ourselves, even to clearing the table, and once we got up to seven desserts and ate them all! The Wisconsin group is cheerful and we're very glad to see them though three left on Monday. Mr. Craig (he has 50 members of his dep't at Iowa) & the boy left Tuesday, but Gertrude (Carr-Craig) is still here and 3 Wisconsin girls, and nobody else, so we have cheerful parties all the time.
I guess I didn't tell you that we walked to Kirkstone Pass last Sunday morning, a steep road not open to motors from here, and Sunday afternoon Mabel Hedge, Louise Gregory & Clara Lynch, who were at the Prince of Wales, took us in a motor down to Low-wood, up the Troutbeck Valley to Kirkstone, down to Ullowater, along almost the whole of it, up through Threlkeld nearly to Keswick, down to Wythburn where we had tea at the little Inn where we did before, another very good tea, and then home. 'Twas a beautiful ride, and it was nice to see them. They had a wonderful two-day motor trip in Wales, hiring car & chauffeur!
Monday it semed like a good day so we went on a bus to Coniston and climbed Coniston Old Man, about 2,000 feet. It was an easy up-grade for about two miles and then steep, up through slate quarries, on to a sweet little tarn and up what would be a head wall in the White Mts. The view was lovely, albeit we were some worried about the mist,w hich threatened. A man whom we met told us not to come down the way we went up if the mist did come, and we knew no other way! Also we had time for only that way as the last bus left only four hours after we reached Coniston. But after a little fuzz the air cleared somewhat and though we didn't dare stop to eat, we didn't worry about getting caught. We sat part way down for 15 minutes for a "snack," and fortunately the view was available all the time because there are no trees. We met a good many folks, and regretted that we hadn't time to watch some men doing rope climbing on a cliff opposite. The view took in much of the seacoast, and the long Windermere & Coniston lakes as well as a good many of the mountains.
Yesterday, Tuesday, it looked forbidding so we just walked to Grasmere to see its sights and picked flowers by the way to try out our new flower book. It's horribly unscientific, but we got a few names nevertheless. The walk along Red Bank and Loughrigg Terrace above Grasmere & Rydal on the side opposite the road was lovely. We crossed on the stepping stones. All the brooks and gills are full owing to the abundant rain.
Oh yes, one evening we walked otu to a nice waterfall with two Walmsleys. The tall Mr. Charles, married rather recently, is very nice, a real scholarly gentleman. The other, Mr. James, is little & I can't seem to find him impressive, tho both are very friendly. Miss Mary is a bit fretful, but Mrs. Charles is a dear. The house is full of books - and cluttered! There are some lovely new pictures. I'm sending some to reach S.H. after I do, and I hope you will like to have some of them. We can easily order more at any time. The man, horse & dog which I already have are rea. The shepherd is "Charlie Dixon", and he lives over by Kirkstone Pass. The girls (Wisconsin) went over there the day we went up Coniston Old Man. The dog was Bessie and took a prize at a sheep-dog trial. I hope we can get over there, but it does repeat territory for us. This morning it rained hard as we all selected pictures!
This afternoon we've spent solid at the Rydal Sheep-dog Trials! It rained hard at 12:30 when we went, but everybody went just the same. It was much as at Threlkeld, save that the valley was somewhat more wooded. There was one extra frill - a Two-dog Trial. The shepherd used two dogs, having a separate set of whistles for each, and there were six sheep. The course was as for the one dog trial, up around one flag, between two sets of two flags, through hurdles, through a gate, and then before the pen was reached the sheep were divided into two groups of 3 each, and one dog with the shepherd was to put one group into one pen while the other dog took care of the other lot which was to be put into another pen. There were three entries, but nobody finished in time. It was great to see the two dogs working together, yet each obeying his own whistles. The one-dog trials were more difficult than at Threlkeld, it seemed to me, because of the perversity of the sheep! We learned later that they belonged ina pasture "up the fells" and certainly at every spare moment almost every bunch headed up the slope where they ought not to go! Only two out of over 20 dogs finished, one little young thing, Meg, only 16 months old, and one old dog who did it in less time - after we left! They certainly are great! There was a hound trial, too - much more difficult than at Threlkeld, 12 miles, including two summits, and two crossings of the river. There were 10 or 11 hounds, and "Mountain" won on a final splendid spurt down the slope to the line. The time was about 30 minutes! There were several hundred people on the wet field, and after a time it grew much clearer, even a little feeble sunshine at the end.
Tomorrow come the annual sports at Grasmere, maybe 16000-25000 folks! It's "pole leaping", wrestly, "fell-running" and such. The last is a cross-country race to the top of some fell and back, by the young men, not the dogs. I think we'll not go, if it's any kind of a day for tramping, though Charlotte is wild to see a coach and four! They used to come with horns and postilions & such, but now-a-days there may be only motors!
We had lunch yesterday in the little Temperance hotel where we stayed in Grasmere, but the woman is young. Grasmere is lovely, and I should have been glad to stay there if we could have found a suitable place. now we are trying for a few days in Keswick, but don't know yet what we can do. We plan to go to Glasgow next Tuesday, Aug. 22. We have beds there and at Edinburgh, but not in between.
I'll be glad to hear from you. I've had only the one letter from South Hadley, and I do want to know about the laboratory! I've not heard one word of it all summer, which is rather trying. I thought somebody would write me, though I wasn't sure who would. - but nobody has. Such is life!
Well - Goodnight - and my love
I've no idea where I should send this - I hope that information will also appear when our mail arrives.