Visitors to William Wordsworth’s home at Rydal Mount near Ambleside are being encouraged to bring their teddy bears – and have them photographed sitting in the poet’s favourite chair.
The habit was set by Westmorland Bear, an eminent visitor to Rydal Mount, the Lake District home of Wordsworth, his wife Mary and his sister Dorothy.
He was brought by his owners many years ago to visit the house, from where Wordsworth published the definitive version of Britain’s best loved poem, Daffodils, and had his photo taken sitting in the famous chair in the drawing room.
Last summer he came back, looking not a day older according to curators Peter and Marian Elkington, and had his photo taken again.
Now visitors are invited to bring their teddy bears, and have them photographed in the famous seat. The Rydal Mount curators have also issued a challenge: whose chair has YOUR teddy bear sat in?
They are now hoping to find the bear who is photographed sitting in the seat of the most famous person. Someone even more famous than William Wordsworth? The curators are asking that your photos are uploaded to the Rydal Mount Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/rydal.mount). At the end of the year there will be a prize for the most unusual or impressive claim.
Said Peter Elkington: “We’ve had some famous people sitting in Wordsworth’s chair over the years – including Terry Wogan last year – and a number of photogenic bears. We hope that other visitors will be encouraged to bring their teddies with them.”
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