The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Vol. 1

Tides.– The tide at Greenock is two hours earlier than at Glasgow. At places situated near the ocean, the tide flows nearly as long as it ebbs. At Greenock it flows generally about six hours, but at Glasgow it flows only for five hours and ebbs in about seven; this, however, is modified by the winds. High winds in the Clyde affect the time and elevation of high-water; and by considering the form and course of the Frith of Clyde, it is obvious that a gale from a northerly quarter, by opposing the flow of the tide, will cause the time of high-water to be earlier, and the height of the water to be less, than would otherwise be the case; while a gale from an opposite direction, acting in concert with the flowing tide, will produce a contrary effect.

The merchants and citizens of Glasgow have ever been characterised as a loyal, patriotic, and generous people. When the country was suffering under civil war, they raised an armed force in defence of their civil and religious liberties, and when menaced by the enemies of their country they stood nobly forward in its defence. In times of local distress their liberality knows no bounds; and their support of religious and benevolent institutions has never been surpassed in any community. That the citizens of Glasgow have done honour to departed worth is abundantly proved by the monuments and statues erected in the city; and that their gratitude is not confined to the dead is daily evinced by their respect and admiration of living merit. Such is the testimony borne to them by one of their fellow-citizens. Such they are known to be in their intercourse with strangers; and none, we will venture to say, have ever spent a week in the precincts of the Broomielaw, and shared in its hospitalities, without a cordial assent to the city motto —Let Glasgow flourish!

THE SOLWAY FRITH, FROM HARRINGTON PIER

"The sun sets with a rosy smile
On Criffel's peak and Mona's isle;
The wave assumes a deeper blue,
The mountain wears a brighter hue,
And many a seaman on the mast
Unfurls his canvas to the blast."

Harrington is a small maritime village, about two miles from Workington, with a commodious harbour opening on St. George's Channel, which is a prolific source of industry to this portion of the coast. The outward trade consists chiefly of coal and lime, in both of which the immediate district abounds. The limekilns of Dissington, and the coal-mines of Workington are the sources from which these exports are obtained in excellent quality, and which employ a great number of hands in the several departments of mining, burning, carting, and exportation to the opposite coasts of Scotland, Ireland, and the Isle of Man, where the cargoes are readily disposed of, and such articles selected for importation as the season, or the peculiar state of the markets at home, appear to recommend. In this manner a degree of local prosperity is insured, and another efficient nursery of seamen kept up by the spirited ship-owners in their regular intercourse with the neighbouring coasts. It is by the combined influence of such nurseries that the maritime power of England first acquired, and still maintains, her supremacy at sea; and to the thousand harbours by which she is encircled she is indebted for those naval victories which, under Providence, have preserved her integrity and independence amidst the shock of surrounding nations. The humblest fisherman on the waters of the Solway, if thoroughly skilled in the management of his trim-built craft, is not without his importance in the scale of national utility; for the same qualifications which give him superiority among the comrades of his hardy calling, would procure him distinction on the deck of a seventy-four. No effort should be spared to encourage nautical science wherever men and ships are to be found on our coasts. "Britannia rules the waves" only by those "hearts of oak" which have been so long and devotedly at her command, and her real strength and security consist, not in the number of her ships or their weight of metal, but in the education and discipline of her native seamen, whose uncompromising gallantry has long passed into a proverb. But from this digression we return to the subject more particularly under notice.

Harrington, it appears, was the hereditary domain of the ancient and baronial family of that name, the title of which became extinct in 1457. It was proposed to carry the railway, alluded to in our notice of Maryport (#pgepubid00053), across the upper part of Harrington, by means of a bridge or viaduct; but the objections to such a measure, so far as it would affect the maritime interests of this place are insurmountable. The report of the committee appointed by the Lords of the Treasury to examine this subject on the spot is as follows: "The whole extent of this harbour is only seven hundred and sixty-two feet in length, and two hundred and twenty in breadth, and as it is used as well for a port of refuge as for lading, and there is an insufficiency of space for vessels to anchor and swing in, an artificial beach has been formed at the eastern or upper end, on which they are enabled to bring up. The proposed viaduct would cut off about a third of the harbour. This would not only be objectionable on account of its diminishing the capacity of the port, but also by its depriving the shipping of the artificial beach to which we have just alluded. The objection to curtailing the size of the harbour will be apparent, when we state that the harbour-master supplied us with a return, verified by the Custom-house officer, by which we find that in the course of the year, 1839, no fewer than five hundred and ten vessels used this port; and that during the gales of wind it was frequently so full that they were in actual contact from side to side. After well considering this part of the subject, we are of opinion that, whatever expense or other inconvenience it might cause, it would be necessary to adopt some other mode of carrying the railway past Harrington than that proposed."

The population of this port is gradually increasing. The number of shipping is also increased; and altogether Harrington may be pronounced as in a flourishing condition. The light now at the pier-head was first used in 1797, and is always exhibited when there is a depth of eight feet water in the harbour. It is a fixed light, hoisted upon a mast forty-four feet above high water, and in clear weather may be seen at the distance of ten miles at sea.

ALLONBY. CUMBERLAND

"Why droops my Flower of Allerdale!
So sad, so pensive, and so pale;
Whence the tear that dims thine eye —
That downcast look and frequent sigh!
The breeze of Allonby shall bring
Back to thy cheek the rose of Spring."

The banks of the Solway are much frequented during the summer months by families from the interior, who resort thither for the benefit of sea-bathing, to which great importance is attached as a preventive, no less than a curative, process in the economy of health. Among the various localities selected for this enjoyment, Allonby bears a long-established reputation, and is annually resorted to by many families of distinction and respectability, from both sides of the Channel, who seek, in the invigorating air of the sea, the pleasures of social intercourse, and in the delicious walks and drives with which the coast abounds, the restoration of health or temporary relaxation from business. Several of the distinguished public characters of the day have here spent the recesses of Parliament, and found in the tranquillising atmosphere of Allonby a safe remedy for the enervating influence of the capital, and the cares and irritations of public life. It was long a favourite resort of the Scottish gentry, and still maintains a degree of pre-eminence as an attractive watering-place. The accommodation at the hotels is excellent, and they are furnished with every convenience for hot-baths.

Allonby is only five miles from Maryport, and ten from Wigton, and is flanked by a fine undulating country, celebrated as a field for rural sports, and industriously cultivated by a numerous and thriving population. The village itself is small, its permanent inhabitants being considerably under a thousand, most of whom depend upon the annual visitors, and a share in the herring-fishery, for the means of life. The latter, however, has become much less productive than formerly; the herrings are very capricious in their visits, and, according to Hutchinson, after continuing the same annual track for ten years, change their route, and only resume their visit after an interval of ten years. In this respect, says our authority, they are as regular as the tides or the vicissitudes of the seasons: but, as annual "customers" for the net, these savoury visitors are not to be depended upon; and although, like Owen Glendower, the anxious fisherman may call up "spirits from the vasty deep," the question is, will they come?

Allonby has the benefit of good assembly-rooms, a reading-room, a free school, and two other daily schools; and here too that exemplary body of men – the Quakers – who are numerous and influential in this county, have a meeting-house. The character of these dissenters from the Established Church is generally praiseworthy; and in this part of Cumberland, where they have long been established, their reputation as a moral, peaceable, and industrious community, is established by the daily evidence of facts and the testimony of all who have enjoyed their intimate and personal intercourse. The Society of Friends – such as they are in this district – bear a closer resemblance to those primitive Christians secluded among the Alps of Piedmont than to any other religious body with which we are acquainted.

Allonby enjoys the honour of having given birth, in 1741, to Captain Joseph Huddart, of the Royal Society, a man of great scientific acquirements, and eminent as a naval engineer and hydrographer. The patronage of the chapel founded here by the Rev. Dr. Thomlinson, and consecrated in the eventful year 1745, is vested in the representatives of that distinguished churchman. The Gill, a seat of the Reay family; West Newton, the ancient residence of the Musgraves; Langrigg Hall, the fortalice of the Barwis family, are among the domestic relics of the "olden time," which give an interesting character to this district. But, with the fall of that despotism from which they rose, these feudal mansions have been left to decay, except in a few instances where the progress of dilapidation has been arrested by the taste of the proprietor, and the Border tower of his ancestors preserved as a landmark to indicate the vast progress which has been effected since then in all the departments of civilised life. Crookdake Hall, celebrated as the residence of "the worthy warrior, Adam of Crookdake," is now a farm-house; and in the very court, probably, where the knight and his retainers once donned their mail for the onslaught, or displayed their booty after a successful raid across the "marches," the spectator sees only the homely instruments of domestic husbandry, where the sword is literally "converted to a ploughshare, and the spear to a pruning-hook."

MARYPORT, CUMBERLAND

"Here Solway's silver wave expands;
There Scotia's mountains gleam;
While Skiddaw's giant crest commands
Hill, valley, lake, and stream."

Maryport derives its name from that of a patriotic lady in the neighbourhood, the wife of Mr. Humphry Senhouse, of Netherhall,[15 - Netherhall, the seat of Humphry Senhouse, Esq., contains a fine collection of Roman antiquities, found at Ellenborough. It was visited, so far back as 1599, by Sir Robert Cotton and his friend Camden.] who, in 1750, took a lively interest in the place, and, with the assistance of her family connexion and the spirited inhabitants of the place, succeeded in raising it to the distinction of a port town; a title to which it has added many additional claims within the last ten years. The original name was Ellenfoot, so called from its situation at the embouchure of the river Elne with the Solway. It is a chapelry of Cross Canonby, or Crosby – a parochial village about three miles distant; in the church, dedicated to St. John, are several ancient monuments of the Senhouse family, already mentioned, one of whom, Richard Senhouse, was bishop of Carlisle in 1624.

The commerce of Maryport, according to the last report, is decidedly on the increase; and the many advantages it possesses for ship-building and refitting are more and more appreciated by all trading-vessels frequenting this coast. The exports consist principally of coal for Scotland and Ireland, which is furnished in great abundance by collieries in this district, and affords the means of comfortable subsistence to a hardy race of seamen, who, in the hour of danger, have often "done the state some service." The importations consist of timber, flax, and iron, from the Baltic, and various articles of domestic utility from the opposite coasts. The herring-fishery has hitherto been prosecuted with great success; upwards of twenty boats were lately engaged in this enterprise. In winter, the boat-crews are employed in the taking of cod-fish, which is here caught in great abundance, and finds a ready sale on the market-days of Tuesday and Friday. The river Ellen, or Elne, affords no inconsiderable supply of salmon-trout during the season; and as the daily steam-vessels running between Carlisle, the Scottish coast, and Liverpool, generally touch at Maryport for the convenience of passengers, there is a constant air of bustle and activity about the pier that renders the place very agreeable as a sojourn in the summer months. The view across the Frith is one of the finest on the coast, and the inland scenery is proverbially beautiful. It is only six miles from Cockermouth; and is further enlivened by the continual traffic along the great coast-road which connects it with Carlisle on the east, and with Workington and Whitehaven on the west.

The county of Cumberland abounds in vestiges of Roman domination, and to the eye of the antiquary presents a fertile field of investigation. Of all these, however, the Roman wall is the most remarkable. It was built by the Emperor Adrian early in the second century, as a barrier against the Caledonians, and extended across the whole island from sea to sea. Its length was one hundred miles, and its breadth six feet, by twelve in height. In its course it had twenty-five strong castles, planted at regular distances; the foundations of which, as well as of the wall itself, can still be traced, and in some places present a solid mass of several feet above the ground. Besides these there are also Roman, Danish, or Saxon encampments, in various parts of the county, as well as ancient Roman and British causeways, and several remains of Druidical circles.

The great store of antiquarian treasure lies, however, at a short walk from Maryport, where the Romans have left abundant proofs of their long sojourn on the banks of the Solway. The character of the present work, however, does not permit our enlarging on this subject; but to all those who visit Allonby or Maryport during the summer, and have a taste for antiquarian lore, the scene thus briefly adverted to will furnish a source of many classical reminiscences.

MARYPORT PIER

The subject of our engraving is a scene but too often visible on our coasts, and by no means peculiar to Maryport. The storm is evidently exhausting its fury upon the Pier and Lighthouse in vain, they are destined to sustain the shock of many such rude assaults, and to afford that shelter and warning to mariners so requisite in the hour of Ocean's rage. The coast of Cumberland is at all times of the year rough and inhospitable to the sailor; but at the equinoxes, especially the autumnal one, its dangers are more imminent; and the trading vessels in the Solway Frith and Irish Channel, are exposed to serious risk. Owing to the numerous shoals and sand-banks lying at various points, the navigation is at all times intricate; and even to those best acquainted with its peculiarities, the passage from Ireland is frequently attended with greater hazard than many longer voyages.

The Town of Maryport (#pgepubid00053) is the subject of another view, and in the notice accompanying it will be found such particulars as we could glean in connection with this small but bustling port. The Pier itself, though well adapted for the purposes of illustration, is not a subject upon which we can profitably occupy the reader's attention; we shall, therefore, avail ourselves of the opportunity thus afforded us to say a few words upon one of the finest of the English lakes, situated within a few miles of Maryport, and a visit to which is a favourite excursion with its inhabitants and visitors. It is to the far-famed Derwent Water that we allude. It occupies a beautiful valley, surrounded by romantic mountains; its shores and islands, covered with luxurious wood, and towards Keswick its northern extremity opening to a spacious and fertile plain. The mountains on the eastern side of the lake are finely broken, in some places presenting precipices mingled with copse-wood and verdure; the chasms of the rocks discharging a great many streams in beautiful falls. The mountains on the western side of Derwent Water are more regular in their forms, generally verdant, and adorned with a profusion of wood near the water's edge. At the southern extremity of the lake, three miles from the town, is Lowdore waterfall, the height of which is said to be not less than 200 feet. It is a very considerable stream, rushing through an immense chasm, and bounding over huge blocks of stone, with which the channel is filled. Near the fall is Gowdar Crag and Shepherd's Crag, constituting one of the finest scenes amongst the lakes.

The manor of Derwentwater belonged to a family which derived their name from it. In the reign of Henry VI., the heiress of Sir John de Derwentwater married Sir Nicholas Radcliffe, of Dilston, in Northumberland, whose descendant, Sir Francis Radcliffe, was created by King James II. Earl of Derwentwater, &c. James, the second earl, having been engaged in the rebellion of 1715, was beheaded on Tower-hill; and the Derwentwater estates, becoming forfeited to the Crown, were granted to Greenwich Hospital, by Act of Parliament. Lords' Island, in the lake, was the residence of the earls.

The beautiful scenery of Derwent Water, said to be about ten miles in circumference, has often been described. St. Herbert's Island is named from a hermitage dedicated to that saint. Vicar's Island formerly belonged to Fountain's Abbey. Rampsholm, a small island, is covered with wood. The fish in greatest estimation in the lake is a sort of salmon trout. The celebrated mountain Skiddaw, in this vicinity, said to be about 3036 feet in height, extends to several townships; that part which is in Crossthwaite parish is within the townships of Under Skiddaw and Crossthwaite, and comprises the manor of Brundholm. The mountain is easy of access; and, standing in some measure detached, the view from the summit, particularly to the north and west, is not intercepted by other mountains: it comprehends the principal part of the county, including the coast from St. Bees Head to the head of Solway Frith, with its several bays and promontories, the Isle of Man, and a considerable portion of the southern part of Scotland. The summit of Ingleborough-hill, in Yorkshire, may be seen over the range of hills bounding the head of Ullswater; and a glimpse of the sea near Lancaster is obtained through the gap of Dunmel Raise. Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite lake are the only lakes seen, and but one of these from the summit. The views from the neighbouring mountains may exceed in grandeur the view from the summit of this, but in no other ascent are the prospects equalled, which unfold themselves when overlooking the lake and vale of Keswick, with Borrowdale and Newlands mountains.

WORKINGTON, CUMBERLAND

When Mary lost the Scottish throne
And saw the Stuarts' sceptre fall,
She fled – but found in Workington
A friend and hospitable hall.

The town and harbour of Workington is situated on the south bank of the Derwent, near its entrance to the Irish sea; it is about seven miles north of Whitehaven, and thirty-four south of Carlisle. It is divided into the upper and lower towns. Leland, in his venerable Itinerary, describes "Wyrkenton" as "a lytle prety fyssher-town;" and in his day, indeed, most of the maritime stations on this coast, which have subsequently risen into importance, were nothing more than "pretty little fisher-towns." It is also noticed by Camden as distinguished for its salmon-fishery, owing to its favourable position at the mouth of the river Derwent, whose scenery holds so distinguished a place in the poetry of the Lakes.

The public buildings of Workington are chiefly of modern date, and the houses disposed into two clusters in that called the Upper town. In the area of the new square is the corn-market, and at a short distance are the assembly rooms and theatre, both of which, though small, are by no means destitute of taste and elegance. It has a weekly market on Wednesday for corn, and on Wednesday and Saturday for butchers' meat. The church of St. Michael, forming a prominent object in the centre of the Engraving, is a rectory in the patronage of the Curwen family, and contains a monument of Sir Patrick Curwen, Bart., who died in 1661. The chief source of industry here, as at Whitehaven and other towns of the coast, is the coal-mines, which, in the vicinity of Workington, amount to sixteen or upwards, with a depth of from forty to ninety fathoms. The coal lies in bands or seams, divided from each other by intermediate strata. Of these the uppermost is generally three feet thick, the second four, and the third, or lowest, from ten to twelve feet. The extraneous matter that separates the former varies considerably; but the covering of the main coal is of the finest white freestone, about twenty yards thick. When the "new seam," as it was then called, was first discovered at Chapel-bank, the event was celebrated by the late proprietor, Mr. Curwen, by a splendid festival, and a vast concourse of the inhabitants and neighbours assembled to drink success to the "black diamond."

The quantity of coal shipped from this port, per week, amounted latterly to two thousand tons or upwards, and the raising of which, with the aid of several steam-engines, afford employment to between six and seven hundred workmen. The agricultural society of Workington has contributed much to the improvement of the county, and owes its origin to the spirited and indefatigable example of the late proprietor of these mines. A staith or loading stage for collier vessels is seen on the right hand of the illustration. It is an object more valuable for its utility than for any beauty in an artistic point of view; but it is a distinguishing characteristic of all the ports engaged in the coal-trade, and, wherever it can be rendered available, reduces the expenses of the coal-owner, by obviating the necessity for keels or lighters.

The mansion of the Curwen family – or hall, as it is more generally designated – was formerly a castle of great strength; and, notwithstanding the numerous alterations it has undergone since the feudal epoch, still presents a noble and imposing feature in the landscape. In this hospitable fortalice Queen Mary was received and entertained by its generous owner, the ancestor of the present Mr. Curwen, till the royal pleasure of Elizabeth could be ascertained as to her future disposal. The chamber in which she slept is still a recording testimony of the fact, and retains the name of the "Queen's chamber," where we may well believe —

"Uneasy lay the head that wore a crown."

The mountains of Cumberland – some of which form the background in the present view – are exceedingly numerous, lofty, and of striking conformation. Around the lakes they are often finely grouped, generally clothed with copse-wood: here pastoral, and dotted with flocks; and there rugged, precipitous, and hewn into deep ravines by those thundering torrents which convey their foaming tribute to the lakes. Every mountain in Cumberland has its name celebrated in poetry – every lake has been the subject of some inspired lyric; and such was the favour in which the charming scenery of this county was held by several of the master-spirits of the age, that the lakes of Cumberland and the adjoining county were adopted as their residence, and from their banks the strains of Wordsworth and Southey were welcomed as the genuine emanations of inspired minds.

WHITEHAVEN, CUMBERLAND

"The town beneath, the sea before thee;
Fruitful groves and flow'ry dells;
Rocks and headlands tow'ring o'er thee,
All behind thee – lakes and fells!

"Look around thee, gentle stranger,
On harvest fields and pastures green; —
In lands where thou hast been a ranger,
Fairer hast thou ever seen!"

The town of Whitehaven may be considered as a national monument to the creative influence of trade. Favoured by the geological character of its soil, and fostered by native industry, it has risen in the comparatively brief interval of a hundred and eighty years, to a position of eminence among the minor ports and harbours of Great Britain. What in the middle of the seventeenth century consisted, according to written testimony, of only six fishermen's huts and one small bark, is now a flourishing town, enlivened by trade and commerce, with a commodious harbour, extensive shipping, and enterprising merchants.

The bay on which the town of Whitehaven is erected is so deeply seated, that the adjacent shore, rising like the grades of a magnificent amphitheatre, appears to enclose it on every side. In approaching it from the north, the stranger is uniformly struck with its sheltered position, and from the heights looks down upon it as on a map spread at his feet. From the south the view is particularly beautiful. The town is well built, the streets wide and enlivened with well-furnished shops, and inhabited by a cheerful and thriving population. Like Longtown, on the Border, Whitehaven is built after a correct plan; the streets cross each other at right angles, presenting much architectural regularity, and combining with the air of internal comfort the outward signs of taste and elegance. The public improvements continue to advance in proportion to the extent of commercial intercourse, and to this, apparently, every succeeding year throws open some new channel. The introduction of steam-navigation between all the adjacent as well as opposite coasts, has powerfully contributed to stimulate the native industry of the place, by increasing the demand for coal – its staple produce – to which we shall more particularly advert in our notice of the harbour (#pgepubid00057).

The situation of Whitehaven in a narrow valley, extending to the village of St. Bees – a distance of several miles – unites with the appearance of seclusion much of that picturesque beauty for which the inland districts of the county are so justly celebrated. St. Bees'-head is a bold and striking feature, and contrasts admirably with the softer scenes from which it projects, as the most imposing landmark on this part of the Channel.

The population of Whitehaven has greatly increased within the last ten years. The neighbouring villages, farms, and pastures, all indicate progressive advancement in the several branches of domestic industry. The land is highly cultivated, and in many instances fertile and productive; while the orchards and gardens, by the nature and abundance of their produce, bear friendly testimony to the mildness of the climate.