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Four miles northwest of Ambleside, the village of GRASMERE consists of an intimate cluster of grey-stone houses on the old packhorse road which runs beside the babbling River Rothay. It's an eminently pleasing ensemble, set back from one of the most alluring of the region's small lakes, but it loses some of its charm in summer thanks to the hordes who descend on the trail of the village's most famous former resident, William Wordsworth (1770-1850). The poet, his wife Mary, sister Dorothy and other members of his family are buried beneath the yews in St Oswald's churchyard , around which the river makes a sinuous curl. On the southeastern outskirts of the village, on the main A591, stands Dove Cottage (daily 9.30am-5.30pm; closed mid-Jan to mid-Feb; GBP5; ), home to William and Dorothy Wordsworth from 1799 to 1808 and where Wordsworth wrote some of his best poetry. Most of the furniture in the cottage belonged to the Wordsworths, while in the upper rooms are various other possessions, including a pair of William's ice skates. In good weather, the garden is open for visits as well (same hours as cottage). In the adjacent museum are more paintings, manuscripts and personal effects once belonging to the Wordsworths (most poignantly Mary's wedding ring), plus mementoes of Southey, Coleridge and Thomas De Quincey. Exhibits here are likely to be rearranged in the future, now that proposals for a new extension to the museum have been agreed. Another mile and a half southeast along the A591 from Grasmere, the hamlet of RYDAL consists of an inn, a few houses and Rydal Mount (March-Oct daily 9.30am-5pm; Nov-Feb Wed-Mon 10am-4pm; GBP4, gardens only GBP1.75), home of William Wordsworth from 1813 until his death in 1850. Parts of the house have been redecorated, but furniture and portraits give a good sense of its former occupants. For many, the highlight is the garden, which has been preserved as Wordsworth designed it, complete with terraces where he used to declaim his poetry. Buses #555/556 and #599 pass the house on the way to Grasmere from Windermere and Ambleside.
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