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"We were duly seiged with complications and got Mackworth to come with us…who oppressed with a sense of duty my mad proceedings." Both the sisters enjoyed outdoor activities, although restrictive social conventions sometimes meant that they could not enjoy them as much as they might – it was not considered respectable for young middle-class women to venture out in public alone. However, Emily and Ellen still found many activities in life they could enjoy. Such as horse riding...
“I do so delight in riding on horseback - how these last two days did remind me of my sweet little Weymouth pony and the happy hours I have spent on the …land galloping up and down. How delicious it was to feel the fresh sea breeze upon my face and to go along these delightfully hard sands without the slightest fear of a tumble or being started at as a most untaught equestrian…” Emily and Ellen refer to going walking regularly in their diaries, but it was rarely acceptable for dependent young women such as themselves to go out unaccompanied. What may seem to modern readers like an innocent little stroll could be be seen as daring and quickly thwarted. Emily - Sunday 21st May, 1843 (while visiting the Shore family at Sunbury)
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