A TOUR into NORTH WALES through MATLOCK, HARROGATE, CUMBERLAND, and LIVERPOOL 1828:
The manuscript journal of Luke Thomas Flood
(1775-1860) travelling with his wife, son (also Luke, b.1809) and
daughter on an 880 mile excursion of over three months into Wales,
the Lakes, and with visits to Liverpool, Birmingham, York, &
elsewhere, 17th July – 21st October 1828.
Fully and closely written up on
70-pages small 8vo, contemporary full sheep, with, at end, a 5-page
itinerary of the tour.
“Myself & wife – with son & daughter left Chelsea on Thursday the 17th July & slept that night at the George in Northampton, a very large Inn”. From here they proceed to Matlock Bath: “a most delightful place, perfectly unique & in every was bewitching in its locality & scenery”. Here he describes the hotels and visits Chatsworth.
They dine at Sheffield noting that the: “stage to it was very hilly – but the stage beyond Barnsley was much worse, from this town we went to Wakefield where we slept & the next morning breakfasted at Leeds & dined at Mrs. Whincups, No. 4 Prospect Place, Harrowgate, being Monday 21st July. In our way hither we had continual rain & storm & saw with great regret the country much inundated … we saw the water taking possession of the cottages, the fields & the roads in a frightful way & from Derby to Belper it was, the night before, impassable & dangerous”. Here he gives a good description of the town and its wells and lodgings “Never bring a cook – for every house & lodging produce one – It is very difficult to procure a whole house as they make much more by letting the dwelling to 2 or 3 families”.
They visit Studley Park and Fountains Abbey, and whilst at York: “the ‘Retreat’ & the ‘Asylum’ for the reception of lunatics – the former is under the management of Quakers …the other is under the Management of a select body of Gentlemen – both do great credit to those concerned in every way – they are very pleasantly situated and resemble respectable gentlemen’s houses more that Institutions for Lunatics – some of the individuals pay 5 Guineas per week”.
On the 25th August: “we all went to the Dragon Ball, which was fully attended, the ladies dresses very good – but Mrs. Carnack shone forth most resplendently with diamonds & emeralds”. They leave Harrogate on the 1st September for Bolton Abbey: “the Duke of Devonshire …has a snug cottage opposite & close to it”, to Skipton, Settle, and Kirby Lonsdale: “Luke & myself slept out for all the beds in the house were engaged”.
At Kendal they: “had a famous good breakfast consisting of Fowls, Ham, Fowl Pye, & Eggs” and on to Bowness; here he describes the houses of Mr. Bolton and Mr. Curwen, before; “…we left … in a Boat for Waterhead – the end of the lake which is really a most enchanting spot – at which place an open carriage was waiting to forward us on to the town of Keswick, 22 miles in going there … … we then came to Ambleside where there is an excellent Hotel called the Salutation about ¼ of a mile from Waterhead – after which we passed by the lakes of Rydal, Grassmere & Thirlmere & through a Country of Mountains such as we had never seen before, the grandeur & sublimity of which cannot be described – for no pen can afford any just conception of such awful scenery. The lake we went all round in a Boat, & we walked up the famous mountain Skiddaw but at the end of 4 miles we were tired & not having a guide & Luke becoming giddy we turned back with great reluctance ……some courage was necessary to reach the point we had arrived at & therefore it was much to be regretted we had not gone the whole way having surmounted nearly all of its danger…”
The remaining 46-pages we have not thoroughly read although we note that he gives a good 8-page description of Liverpool and an account of visiting manufactories in Birmingham. From the 5-page itinerary at the end, giving mileages covered, where they breakfasted, dined, and slept, we can see that other places visited or passed through on this 880-mile tour included Lancaster, Preston, Chester, Holywell, Conway, Bangor, Beaumaris, Caernarvon, Llanberis, Bangor, Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, Coventry, etc. “At St. Albans…where we slept at the Verulam Arms – a very excellent house … from there we went to Edgeware, 11 miles, where our own horses met us & took us home to Chelsea, …the 21st October after an absence of three months & five days, with grateful thanks to God for having preserved us from all the perils & dangers incidental to travelling……to our own home in health & happiness!!”
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Item
No. 8208
Price: £425.00