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coniston |
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A memorial seat and plaque to Campbell decorates the green in the
slate-grey village of CONISTON (a derivation of "King's Town"), hunkered
below the craggy and copper-mine-riddled bulk of The Old Man of Coniston
. Campbell's grave is nearby, in the new cemetery (behind the Crown
Hotel ). Having studied this and Ruskin's grave, which lies in St
Andrew's original churchyard beneath a beautifully worked Celtic cross,
you've seen all that Coniston has to offer, save for the excellent
Ruskin Museum on Yewdale Road (Easter to mid-Nov daily 10am-5.30pm; mid-Nov
to Easter Wed-Sun 10am-3.30pm; £3.50; ), which combines local history
and geology exhibits with a fascinating look at Ruskin's life and work.
Coniston Water itself is hidden out of sight, half a mile southeast of
the village. Boat speeds are limited to 10mph, a graceful pace for the
sumptuously upholstered Steam Yacht Gondola (Easter-Oct 5 daily; £4.80
round trip; tel 015394/63856), built in 1859, which leaves Coniston Pier
for hour-long circuits, calling at Park-a-moor landing stage then
Ruskin's Brantwood. The wooden Coniston Launch (Easter-Oct hourly; Nov-Easter
up to 4 daily depending on the weather; tel 015394/36216, ) operates a
year-round service to Brantwood on two routes, north (£3.60 return) or
south (£5.80) around the lake.
Both steam yacht and motor launches dock beneath the magnificently sited
Brantwood (mid-March to mid-Nov daily 11am-5.30pm; mid-Nov to mid-March
Wed-Sun 11am-4.30pm; £7.50; house only £4.50; gardens only £2; ), two
and a half miles by road from Coniston, where art critic and moralist
John Ruskin lived from 1872 until his death in 1900. Champion of J.M.W.
Turner and the Pre-Raphaelites and proponent of the supremacy of Gothic
architecture, Ruskin insisted upon the indivisibility of ethics and
aesthetics, and was appalled by the conditions in which the captains of
industry made their labourers work and live, while expecting him to
applaud their patronage of the arts. A twenty-minute video expands on
his philosophy and whets the appetite for rooms full of his watercolours.
His study and dining room boast superlative lake views, bettered only by
those from the Turret Room where he used to sit in later life in his
bathchair, itself on display downstairs, along with his mahogany desk
and Blue John wine goblet, among other memorabilia. Various other
exhibition rooms and galleries display Ruskin-related arts and crafts,
while the Jumping Jenny Tearooms - named after Ruskin's boat - has
outdoor terrace seating for meals and drinks.
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