In winter 2014 and spring 2015 I will be the GoLakes Travel Poet in Residence. Or more specifically The Lakes’ #poetinmotion.

For part of the project I may well follow in the footsteps of the Romantic Poets on reflective walks around Grasmere and the Central Lakeland towns. But my modern role is more practical and diverse; to get creative on bus, train, ferry and ‘steamers’ with the aim of inspiring visitors like you to get creative about how you travel while visiting this part of Britain.

The motto of the GoLakes Travel scheme is Drive Less See More. The initiative is all about environmentally sustainable travel, about de-clogging crowded country lanes in peak season as well as helping to preserve the lakes and fells you come to enjoy. But you benefit too, by experiencing the environment in a totally different way and seeing the world without a windscreen.

So would you give up your car and your blinkers and hop on the bus to get a different perspective on The Lakes? I’m convinced Wordsworth and the Poets would if they were born today.

Poets in Motion

by Kirstie Pelling

When William wandered day and night
There were no cars to grab a lift.
His cadence might have gone adrift
if golden daff were amber light.

If motors ruled in Samuel’s time
Then Kubla Khan would be on wheels,
Sam would skid in William’s fields.
Chanting limericks not Rime.

If Robert rode electric Twizy,
Not three bears, instead just one.
Too small for even Goldy’s bum.
Finding charge takes energy.

Think how much we’d have understood
If gondola on Coniston
Had whizzed around the lake with John
not left him at remote Brantwood.

If Dorothy had caught the train
She may have ditched her journaling
To chat with famous sibling
And never caught a glimpse of fame.

If all those poets were still alive
Would they favour GoLakes Travel,
Romanticise the Summer schedule
And hang out on the 555?

Poets in Motion poem ©Kirstie Pelling 2014 All Rights Reserved.

No reproduction without authors permission.