Wordsworth 2

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770 - 1850)

Apart from the Newcastle visit in 1795, the most celebrated of the Romantic poets has more associations with the North East than is commonly realised. After their trip to Germany in 1799, William and Dorothy Wordsworth, together with Coleridge, made Sockburn Farm their base for most of the year. Wordsworth did a great deal of work and Coleridge began his tormenting affair with Sara Hutchinson. The two poets walked back to the Lakes via Greta Bridge and Teesdale. Though the Wordsworths settled in Grasmere and Rydal for the rest of their lives, there were visits to the Hutchinson homes at Bishop Middleham in Durham, and at Scarborough, until Wordsworth's marriage in 1802. On a later visit to Sockburn, Wordsworth wrote much of The White Doe of Rylestone after seeing Scarsdale and Bolton Abbey.

In 1838, Wordsworth accompanied Miss Fenwick into Northumberland, apparently to visit Holy Island and perhaps Miss Fenwick's old home at Edlingham on the way. After that, they would go to Durham, then proceeding to Henry Taylor's house in Witton-le-Wear. The return trip was to be via Teesdale and Alston Moor. When Wordswoth arrived in Newcastle, he was shown round the city by John Hernaman, editor of the Newcastle Journal which had been founded in 1832. Wordsworth then went off to Tynemouth and North Shields, apparently to see some cousins. The Newcastle Journal for 7 July 1838 mentions his trip to Tynemouth, 'after inspecting the magnificent buildings which adorn our town'. Wordsworth went on to Warkworth and was later to recall Saint Cuthbert and 'bleak Northumbria's coast' with its 'screaming Sea-mews' in his poem about Grace Darling, written in 1842.

In Durham Wordsworth received a D.C.L. It was the university's first such award but Wordsworth was disappointed that the ceremony was not in Latin. Wordsworth wrote much in praise of northern landscapes, but not through ignorance of countries abroad. He felt that Scotland and Switzerland had too many drear expanses lying between the spectacular views:

'I will conclude with observing that a happy proportion of component parts is generally noticeable among the landscapes of the North of England; and in this characteristic essential to a perfect picture, they surpass the scenes of Scotland, and in a still greater degree, those of Switzerland.'

The Darlington Museum owns a pair of Wordsworth's socks, finely knitted (and darned) with a WW tag sewn on. The provenance of these socks is uncertain, but they may indeed have come from Sockburn.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770 - 1850) Apart from the Newcastle visit in 1795, the most celebrated of the Romantic poets has more associations with the North East than is commonly realised. After their trip to Germany in 1799, William and Dorothy Wordsworth, together with Coleridge, made Sockburn Farm their base for most of the year. Wordsworth did a great deal of work and Coleridge began his tormenting affair with Sara Hutchinson. The two poets walked back to the Lakes via Greta Bridge and Teesdale. Though the Wordsworths settled in Grasmere and Rydal for the rest of their lives, there were visits to the Hutchinson homes at Bishop Middleham in Durham, and at Scarborough, until Wordsworth's marriage in 1802. On a later visit to Sockburn, Wordsworth wrote much of The White Doe of Rylestone after seeing Scarsdale and Bolton Abbey. In 1838, Wordsworth accompanied Miss Fenwick into Northumberland, apparently to visit Holy Island and perhaps Miss Fenwick's old home at Edlingham on the way. After that, they would go to Durham, then proceeding to Henry Taylor's house in Witton-le-Wear. The return trip was to be via Teesdale and Alston Moor. When Wordswoth arrived in Newcastle, he was shown round the city by John Hernaman, editor of the Newcastle Journal which had been founded in 1832. Wordsworth then went off to Tynemouth and North Shields, apparently to see some cousins. The Newcastle Journal for 7 July 1838 mentions his trip to Tynemouth, 'after inspecting the magnificent buildings which adorn our town'. Wordsworth went on to Warkworth and was later to recall Saint Cuthbert and 'bleak Northumbria's coast' with its 'screaming Sea-mews' in his poem about Grace Darling, written in 1842. In Durham Wordsworth received a D.C.L. It was the university's first such award but Wordsworth was disappointed that the ceremony was not in Latin. Wordsworth wrote much in praise of northern landscapes, but not through ignorance of countries abroad. He felt that Scotland and Switzerland had too many drear expanses lying between the spectacular views: 'I will conclude with observing that a happy proportion of component parts is generally noticeable among the landscapes of the North of England; and in this characteristic essential to a perfect picture, they surpass the scenes of Scotland, and in a still greater degree, those of Switzerland.' The Darlington Museum owns a pair of Wordsworth's socks, finely knitted (and darned) with a WW tag sewn on. The provenance of these socks is uncertain, but they may indeed have come from Sockburn.
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