Following the return of the Ruskin family to Herne Hill on 30 June 1841, following their extensive Continental tour (1840-41), Ruskin 's health was still delicate enough to indicate a restful summer. There were visits to Leamington to take Dr Jephson's famous cure, and a holiday in Wales. Ruskin wrote to Revd Professor Thomas Dale from Leamington on 22 September 1841 stating that he had 'little pleasure in the idea of entering the Church' and had been 'attached to the pursuits of art and science' for as long as he could remember ( Works, 1.397-98). (See preparation for final examinations, long gestation period of Modern Painters I.)