ar
as the blue fells of Lakeland. I have painted the westward view from
this very summit, so that any written description is hardly needed; but
behind us, as we face the scene illustrated here, there is a wonderful
expanse that includes the heights of Addlebrough, Stake Fell, and
Penhill Beacon, which stand out boldly on the southern side of
Wensleydale. I have seen these hills lightly covered with snow, but
that can give scarcely the smallest suggestion of the scene that was
witnessed after the remarkable snowstorm of January, 1895, which
blocked the roads between Wensleydale and Swaledale until nearly the
middle of March. Roads were dug out, with walls of snow on either side
from 10 to 15 feet in height, but the wind and fresh falls almost
obliterated the passages soon after they had been cut. In
Landstrothdale Mr. Speight tells of the extraordinary difficulties of
the dalesfolk in the farms and cottages, who were faced with starvation
owing to the difficulty of getting in provisions. They cut ways through
the drifts as high as themselves in the direction of the likeliest
places to obtain food, while in Swaledale they built sledges.

When we have left the highest part of Wether Fell, we find the track
taking a perfectly straight line between stone walls. The straightness
is so unusual that there can be little doubt that it is a survival of
one of the Roman ways connecting their station on Brough Hill, just
above the village of Bainbridge, with some place to the south-west. The
track goes right over Cam Fell, and is known as the Old Cam Road, but I
cannot recommend it for any but pedestrians. When we have descended
only a short distance, there is a sudden view of Semmerwater, the only
piece of water in Yorkshire that really deserves to be called a lake.
It is a pleasant surprise to discover this placid patch of blue lying
among the hills, and partially hidden by a fellside in such a way that
its area might be far greater than 105 acres.

Those who know Turner's painting of this lake would be disappointed, no
doubt, if they saw it first from this height. The picture was made at
the edge of the water with the Carlow Stone in the foreground, and over
the mountains on the southern shore appears a sky that would make the
dullest potato-field thrilling.

A short distance lower down, by straying a little from the road, we get
a really imposing view of Bardale, into which the ground falls suddenly
from our very feet. Sheep