WCP291

[1]

Parkstone, Dorset

June 11th 1897

My dear Violet¹

Your letter reminded me that I stopped your allowance for Michaelmas & Christmas towards your Bicycle, & that I have forgotten to send it for March. I therefore now send you a cheque for £10 for March & Midsummer. Also the guide to the Lakes with Maps &c. By far the nicest centre to stay for a few days in Grasmere². It is the loveliest spot in the lake district & surrounded by fine mountains. Fairfield the nearest, is as fine as any. We went up it from the other side. Helvellyn³ & the Langdale Pikes⁴ are also within a walk and numerous tarns & [2] waterfalls. There is a swell Temperance Hotel before you get to the village where they would probably board you cheaply. Be sure & see the waterfall in Rydal Park. It is charming.

I send you also Will’s last 3 letters. There are also 2 post cards with nothing particular in them. ⁵Please keep Will’s letters & return to me their Envelopes.

There are coaches now from the Windermere Station to Grasmere; or you might go by Carnforth to the foot of Windermere & up the Lake to Ambleside, & then by coach to Grasmere, or walk & get a boy a man to take your bags. We are going on Wednesday to [3] Lynton, probably for a fortnight. Our address, for the first week at least, will be The Cottage Hotel, Lynton, N. Devon.

It seems to me that, having got a bicycle, you make no use of it if you go to Switzerland every year. Why not come here this holidays & go with some friends to see all the wonders of Dorsetshire, Wiltshire & Hampshire, which you can do easily, & get as much fresh air & healthy exercise as in Switzerland at one tenth of the expense. Is not that reasonable? We had our visit on Tuesday [4] from over two enthusiastic young Liverpool naturalists. They are staying with a relative near Milton & are going to have a weeks collecting in the New Forest. The eldest — Birch by name — is a nice healthy looking lad of 20, and very nice in his way. He will be out of his time at the end of the year and proposes to travel about England, Scotland &c. working at his trade and getting more treasures for his collection, as he values nothing he has not caught himself. Mr. Russell Smart, who wrote one of the articles in "The Book", also called last Sunday — as did Dr. Holländer⁶ the Phrenologist, a very clever and interesting German gentleman who speaks English almost perfectly. Mr. Smart is coming again next Sunday to talk Socialism. Kind regards to Eleanor.

Your affectionate Pa | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]