So what did I do once I got to Ambleside? Well after spending Easter with a plane full of people and then dinner and a movie in my room, I was ready to emerge from the (rather elegant) hermit cave so I took two trains and a cab to Rydal Hall.And yes I managed to make the correct connecting train! Rydal Hall is a Christian conference center built in the mansion of the LaFleming Family of Belgium. You can read more about it here; it is nothing short of spectacular. The foyer was filled with lovely antique furniture and the grounds were just so elegantly Victorian I almost wished I had brought my parasol and best hat. The rooms were rather plain but comfortable and in the Lake District you don’t spend much time indoors, even in the rain.
Everyone trickled into the foyer that afternoon and as our rooms were not quite ready, we got acquainted and many of us decided to start exploring the grounds. The highlight of this first amble was a lovely little walking path that leads to a waterfall. It was interesting that a little house with a window was built for observation but I found that I got better pictures if I walked around to the side and took them without the glass in the way. Even this little waterfall was better than anything I have seen on Oahu or Maui for that matter.
Dinner was always served promptly at 6:30 and it was pretty tasty and they were very willing to accommodate gluten-free me. Even at tea there were tasty gluten-free cakes. Pre-packaged but still delicious. The meals were served by college students who were working at the center in exchange for room and board. We often had so much to eat that I couldn’t eat everything. It was all very homemade which was to my liking since I don’t really care to eat out at restaurants regularly. The veggies were overdone but many people like them that way. All in all a pleasurable dining experience. Maybe that was due to the company.
In the mornings, a breakfast fit for a king was served at 8:00 and even with jetlag I was only late once. We had a morning chapel service the first day and I sat in the pew behind William Wordsworth’s family pew when he attended Rydal Church. It was quaint with brilliant stained glass and wooden pews–a very cozy atmosphere. An Episcopal priest named Ben Bernier was the leader of the service. He and his wife Miriam were lovely people who are from Corpus Christi and he is very familiar with Charlotte Mason and I believe he completed his dissertation on her methods. They are originally from Puerto Rico so they would fit in splendidly in Hawaii! I would like to meet up with them again sometime. All the other days we had an interesting speaker in that 9:00 time slot. One day it was even a panel of speakers, all of whom had attended a PNEU school at some time in their past.
We had a tour of Rydal Hall following the chapel service and then we were on our own to go and explore the area. Groups were formed based on interest: Beatrix Potter’s house was not far nor two of Wordsworth’s houses and plenty of hiking was to be had. A lady named Kristina, who was visiting along with her family and parents, and I went on a hike called Stockghyll. Her family amused themselves the whole time but they had been over since before the conference and I believe they still had a bit of a vacation planned for afterwards. Her eldest son is autistic and was struggling a bit with being away from home but I think he began to settle in a bit.
About quarter to five there was teatime and then quarter past brought another speaker for just over an hour. Then it was time to eat dinner and afterwards there was a question and answer session with the speaker. Our keynote speaker was Dr. James Peterson and he was speaking on Natural Law, which was admittedly a bit over my head but the whole trip was out of my comfort zone and I had the time of my life! Dr. Peterson and his wife Laurie were very humble and down to earth. I enjoyed talking with her at dinner. They have twin girls, Laura and Noelle. Laura is a teacher in public school in Appalachia so it was really interesting to talk with her mom about what that has been like. They are currently living in Roanoke,Virginia.
Our other speakers were Graham Kilner of the Armitt Museum who spoke about what Ambleside would have been like in the time of Charlotte Mason. He was really enjoyable and had a nice slide show. I think he was filling in for Deborah Walsh, the curator, who was under the weather. We had Dr. John Thorley talk as well on his vision for CM in the 21st Century. He is the last principal of the Charlotte Mason College before it closed in the late sixties.
We also heard from Margaret Coombs who has published a new biography of Charlotte Mason. It is the first that one has been published since Essex Cholmondeley published The Story of Charlotte Mason in 1960. The notion is that Chomondeley’s account is quite ideal whereas Coombs version makes Mason quite a bit more refreshingly human. I bought Mrs. Coombs book and got quite a good deal. It was about half what it costs on Amazon plus I got an autograph. She was a delightful lady who is reputed to enjoy getting a rise out of people. But I didn’t find her so at all. It was a bit like eating dinner with my Grandmother, whom I miss very much.
Lastly but certainly not least, we got to meet the daughter of Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, who wrote For the Children’s Sake, which is the book that rekindled the CM movement in the United States, in particular. Fiona Fletcher and her husband Jason have a school in Cambridge based on Charlotte Mason’s philosophy. They are a very nice couple and I greatly enjoyed talking with them about how the logistics of how they run their school. It would be amazing to work there for a couple of years. Everyone was very keen to chat with them afterwards as there are two ladies who are really wanting to start schools in their home countries–Australia and Zimbabwe. Kath, from Australia, even had the opportunity to visit the school. I would love to have been there!
What I really loved about the conference was the balance between sessions and free time. My favorite hike is hard to choose but because of a cancellation, we were able to get in the High Sweden Bridge hike with Jen Spencer, who planted a CM school in North Carolina and is now a consultant to schools who are trying to create authentic CM atmospheres in their schools. This does not mean, as you might guess that we are living in pseudo-Victorian times. Charlotte Mason, we believe, would have changed and made use of some of the technology we have at our fingertips today. Anyhow, the hike was filled with exhilerating panoramic views of Ambleside and Windermere Lake amongst other things. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip and something which you will see many pictures of in my soon to be completed photo album.
I loved meeting everyone there and especially the founders of the Charlotte Mason Institute, Dr. Carroll and Andra Smith. They put in so many hours planning every little detail and I appreciate all the work they did to make it so memorable for everyone.
Decidedly Different 