‘Understanding Ullswater’ Evening talk on 4th February 2021
‘Understanding Ullswater’ Evening talk on 4th February 2021
FOUW is happy to announce that Jeff Cowton, Curator and Head of Learning at the Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere, will kick off the FOUW Understanding Ullswater Evening Talk Programme for 2021.
It will take place on Thursday 4th February at 19.30 and will be given by ZOOM because of COVID restrictions. A draft programme for all the Talks is attached.
Jeff will talk on: Wordsworth and Ullswater
Jeff Cowton is Curator and Head of Learning at Wordsworth Grasmere, where he has led the reinterpretation of Dove Cottage and museum as part of the major NLHF project ‘Reimagining Wordsworth’. It is hoped that Wordsworth Grasmere will open fully in the Spring. The collection is focused on William and Dorothy Wordsworth, wider British Romanticism and the discovery of the Lake District by writers and artists from 1750 onwards.
In his talk Jeff, will highlight some of the many manuscripts, books and manuscripts which relate to Ullswater, taking the opportunity to show, for example, Dorothy’s journal in which she describes seeing the daffodils by the lake shore in 1802. In doing so, he hopes to stimulate a group visit to Wordsworth Grasmere later in the year, and individual visits to see items from
the collection for further research and enjoyment. He welcomes comments and questions on the highlighted items as the talk progresses – it will be a discussion more than a talk!
Jeff started work at Dove Cottage as a trainee in 1981, becoming Curator in 1994. He was awarded an MBE in 2010 for his services to museums.\
Tim Clarke, the Chair of the Friends of the Ullswater Way which is hosting the event said: “We are enormously grateful to Jeff for agreeing to speak on this theme. The talk will
illustrate Wordsworth’s close connection and love for Ullswater.’
Background: The Friends of the Ullswater Way was created in April 2016 and has been primarily focused since its inception on the creation of the Ullswater Way Heritage Trail (www.ullswaterway.co.uk/hertiage-trail.html). It was granted Charitable status in 2019.
Further information is available from Tim Clarke