Why would a midwestern mom of six kids want with a small town in the middle of the Lake District of England?
Lots!
Charlotte Mason, the educational philosopher and college director, lived her most famous years in Ambleside. She, on the shoulders of those philosophers before her, challenged the teachers of her day to consider a new way of teaching.
She chose a very remote, beautiful area of England to start her school. Perhaps her connections to the area, or her fondness of Wordsworth, or her ability to find nature just out her door helped her to find this place which would be the head quarters and remaining foot hold of her philosophy until today.
In May 2017, my first graduate from our Charlotte Mason homeschool and I traveled to the Lake District. It takes a a good half of a day to travel from London to Ambleside currently. The travel we took included a fast train, a bus ride and foot path walking. I can only imagine what it must have been like to travel in a carriage pulled by a horse!
Here are a few looks at our favorite spots.
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| Charlotte Mason's grave and the small headstone for her secretary extraordinaire, Elsie Kitching. |
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| Charlotte Mason's desk, currently on display in the Armitt Museum |
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| Some nature lists found in the Archives of the Armitt Museum |
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| A country neighbors home, William Wordsworth |
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| Looking out from Wordsworths home onto his garden |
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| Beatrix Potters home, another country neighbor! |
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| Coniston Lake being sung to by a robin on a gate |
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| The beehive at what was Charlotte Masons college |
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| Scale How looking amazingly large from the lower parking lot |
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| Walking the Sweden Bridge trail above Ambleside. This is a hike Charlotte would have taken her students on from time to time. |
