Crosthwaite, to the north-west of the town, is famous for its twelfth-century church dedicated to St. Kentigern. It has a long battlemented roof and massive square tower, and possesses many old brasses and monuments, besides a font of the time of Edward III. To most people the monument to Southey will be the chief object of interest. It is a recumbent figure, with an epitaph in verse by his life-long friend Wordsworth. Robert Southey was the son of a Bristol linen-draper, and was educated at Westminster and Balliol. Southey and Coleridge were much associated with Lovell, a Bristol Quaker. These three friends made a plan--never carried out--of going to the wilds of America and returning to the patriarchal manner of living. They all married three sisters named Fricker. Unfortunately Southey's wife died insane, and he then married a very talented lady named Catherine Bowles. In the beginning of the eighteenth century the Southeys and Coleridges settled in the same house at Greta, near Keswick, and Mrs. Lovell, widow of Robert Lovell, and her son joined the household. Here Southey lived till his death in 1843. In 1813 he was made Poet Laureate, and later was given a pension of £300 a year. [Illustration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._ ASHNESS BRIDGE, DERWENTWATER.] ALNWICK CASTLE =How to get there.=--Train from King's Cross. Great Northern Rly. =Nearest Station.=--Alnwick. =Distance from London.=--309 miles. =Average Time.=--Varies between 7 and 8 hours. 1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 43s. 1d. ... 25s. 9d. Return 86s. 2d. ... 51s. 6d. =Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Northumberland Arms," "Star Hotel." =Alternative Route.=--Train from St. Pancras _via_ Sheffield and York. Midland Railway. Standing in a magnificent position overlooking the town from which it takes its name, Alnwick Castle occupies the site of one of the oldest of the border points of defence. It is believed that a fort existed here during the Roman occupation, and that a castle was erected on its site by the Saxons, who named the place _Ealnwic_. Just before the Conquest the castle and barony were the property of one Gilbert Tyson, who was slain at the battle of Hastings. His possessions passed into the hands of the Norman lords De Vesci, who held them till about 1297, when the castle and barony were bequeathed by the licence of Edward I. to the Bishop of Durham. Shortly afterwards they were purchased by Lord Henry de Percy, from whom they have descended regularly to the present owner, the Duke of Northumberland. The castle is one of the finest examples of a feudal fortress in England, the walls enclosing an area of five acres, and the grounds, watered by the Alne, presenting scenes of the most varied and romantic beauty.