Chapter VI

CREWE TO HARTFORD, Eleven and .75 Miles.

QUITTING the Crewe station, around which is little to attract the traveller's notice, the line proceeds nearly without a curve, and for some distance enables the passengers of one train, to observe the approach of another. A branch railway is in progress from Crewe, to Manchester on one side, and to Chester on the other. The tower of Coppenhall Church is the first object on the W. This Church is an old wood and plaster structure, of the style prevalent in the reign of Elizabeth, and looking almost as if modern times had forgotten it, so quaint and old it is.

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Passing the Church and Village, we arrive at

Coppenhall Station.

Distance to Birmingham, 56--Liverpool and Manchester, 41.5 miles.

DISTANCES BY ROADS FROM THIS STATION TO THE FOLLOWING PLACES:--

_Places W. of Station_. _Places E. of Station_. Minshull Moss 2 miles. Coppenhall Moss 1 mile. Lea Green 2 -- Warmingham 3 miles. Leighton 2.5 -- SANDBACH 5 -- Church Minshull 3.5 -- Worleston Green 4.5 -- Acton 5.5 --

THE country near the line in this part becomes flat, boggy, and uninteresting; for though an ancient moss is a scene of uncloying interest to a naturalist, and contains many a treasure to reward the patient seeking of the botanist; yet, in the cursory glance of a railroad traveller, its sombre, and, as he perhaps thinks, unprofitable waste, is a scene gladly exchanged for verdant pastures and waving corn fields. Here is a whole family of mosses, all lying closely contiguous, and quaking under the foot of the pedestrian wanderer among their heathy labyrinths, "like a great jelly bag," as the graphic authoress of "Wood Leighton," that most graceful, good, and womanly book, quaintly describes a like spot. Coppenhall Moss, Leighton Moss, Warmington Moss, and, for aught we know, half a score more, compose the near view, with the welcome variety afforded by Warmingham Wood in the distance.

* * * * *

The towns of Sandbach and Congleton lie on the E., but are not seen from the line. The former contains about 7,200 inhabitants. The market is on Thursday, and fairs on Easter Tuesday and Wednesday, and the first Thursday after September 11; and a cattle and pleasure fair on December 27, for cattle and wearing apparel. In the market-place are some ancient crosses, repaired in 1816. The church is in the later English style. There are Dissenting Chapels, and several Schools. Congleton contains 9,352 individuals. It is an ancient place, and is called _Cogletone_ in Doomsday Book, but its origin has not been clearly ascertained. The town is situated in a valley, embosomed in richly wooded hills: the eastern part is old and irregularly built; the western is modern. In the environs, especially on the banks of the river, are many elegant mansions and villas. The market is on Saturday; the fairs on the Thursday before Shrovetide, May 12, July 12, and December 22. The Market-house, containing a handsome Assembly-room, was built in 1822, at the sole expense of Sir E. Antrobus, Bart.

Minshull Vernon Station.

Distance to Birmingham, 58.75--Liverpool and Manchester, 38.75 miles.

DISTANCES BY ROADS FROM THIS STATION TO THE FOLLOWING PLACES:--

_Places W. of Station_. _Places E. of Station_. Church Minshull 2 miles. Warmingham 2.5 miles. Bunbury 6.75 -- SANDBACH 5 -- Tattenhall 12 -- Harthill 12.25 --

HERE the scenery becomes more interesting, from the distant view afforded on the W. of Beeston Castle Hill, and the high lands in Cheshire and Wales.

[Picture: Beeston Hill]

Beeston Castle was founded by Ranulph de Blundeville, about 1220, and
was made a royal garrison, in the war between Henry III., and the
confederate Barons. In 1643, Beeston Castle was held by a detachment
of the Parliamentarian forces, then taken by the Royalists, who were,
after a long siege in 1645, compelled, from want of provisions, to
surrender it; and the Parliamentarians dismantled it early the
following year. The ruins consist of part of a tower which guarded
the principal entrance to the inner court, flanked by semi-circular
bastions, and surrounded by a moat, excavated in the solid rock. The
outer walls were defended by eight round towers, irregularly placed,
and are now covered with ivy.

On the N.W. appears Delamere Forest, which continues to form part of the railroad prospect for some space. This tract, which includes the ancient and royal forest of Delamere, was uninclosed till 1812, when it was erected into a parish by act of parliament. It was formerly a dreary waste, but is now rapidly improving in fertility and increased population. On its enclosure, it first gave the title of Baron Delamere of Vale Royal, to Thomas Cholmondeley, Esq., the proprietor of the ancient possessions of the Cistercian monks of Vale Royal, whose sumptuous Abbey was completed in 1330, by Edward I., and cost 32,000. There are races in March, called the Tanfield Hunt.

Delamere Forest, comprising about 10,000 acres, once contained a
great number of red and fallow deer: it exhibits a pleasing variety
of well-wooded hills, rich valleys for pasturage, waters affording
plenty of fish and water-fowl; and mosses, producing an abundance of
peat and turf for fuel. Upon the highest hill stood the Saxon
fortress of Finborrow, and near it the city of Eadesbury, both of
which are said to have been founded by Ethelfleda, daughter of Alfred
the Great. The ancient residence of the Chief Forester is all that
now remains; this house is called the Chamber of the Forest; and at
convenient distances around it are neat lodges for the keepers of the
several walks. Five thousand acres of the forest have been planted
with forest trees within the last twenty years. The remaining
portion is sold or allotted to private individuals.

Journeying on, we pass Lea Hall, a plain, old-fashioned building, close to the line, and can just perceive Over Church above the trees; this part of the line being more clothed with wood than that we have recently described. Here the Middlewich Canal is crossed, and is seen on the E., in which direction, two miles from the line, lies the town of Middlewich, containing about 4,800 inhabitants, with a market on Thursday, and fairs on Holy Thursday, Aug. 25, and Oct. 29. The name of this town is derived from its central situation with respect to the Wiches, or Salt Towns. A Roman station is supposed to have existed here, from the remains of a Roman road, and an intrenched camp. The Royalists were defeated here during the civil war, and the same fortune befel the Parliamentarian forces subsequently. The town is divided by the Grand Trunk Canal, here crossed by the river Dane; and the rivers Weyer, Croco, and Whelock, also run through the parish. The chief trade consists in salt obtained from powerful brine-springs: there are also some silk manufactories. The church, being built at various periods, presents an assemblage of different styles of architecture: it has a handsome tower. Here are also dissenting meetings, and a free school, which, like many like establishments, fulfils, but in a very limited degree, the intentions of its founders. Delamere Forest and Over Church again form the westerly view.

The small straggling town of Over lies about a mile W. of the line; it contains 2,930 inhabitants; has no market, but fairs on May 15 and Sept. 25. The church was re-built in 1543, by Hugh Starkey, Gentleman Usher to Henry VIII., in the later English style of architecture. An effigy of brass in the interior of the church, perpetuates the memory of the pious Hugh; a curious font, and some other antiquities, may also be seen. Salt is the chief manufacture. In the extreme distance on the S.E., a clear day allows a tolerable view of the Derbyshire hills from this part of the line; Stanthorne Hall, seat of Richard Dutton, Esq., also E., is passed immediately before reaching the

Winsford Station.

Distance to Birmingham, 61.25--Liverpool and Manchester, 36.25 miles.

DISTANCES BY ROADS FROM THIS STATION TO THE FOLLOWING PLACES:--

_Places W. of Station_. _Places E. of Station_. Over 2 miles. MIDDLEWICH 2 miles. Little Budworth 5.25 -- Brereton cum Smethwick 7.5 -- TARPORLEY 8.5 -- Swettenham 9.5 -- Waverton 15 -- Nether Alderley 14.5 --

BOSTOCK HALL, seat of James France France, Esq., and Wharton, _would_ be seen E. from the railroad after leaving the station, but that the line enters a shallow cutting; the banks of which hide the view "just at the very time when they should not." An opening gives a glimpse of the woods about the house, and that is all. The next peep is westward again, at Moulson: and after passing another cutting (this word _cutting_ is an inelegant term, which does not fall into our prose with ease; but we cannot avoid it, belonging, as it does, to railroad phraseology) we gain a view of Vale Royal Park and New Park on the W., the pleasant woodland glades of which are soon shut out by another cutting which takes us through Eaton, and by Eaton Hall, seat of Sir E. Antrobus. We now approach one of the most magnificent parts of the railway, and of the scenery skirting it; the Vale Royal Viaduct, over which the line passes for five hundred feet, and beneath which the river Weaver winds through the vale in graceful sweeps, girt with verdant meadows; on the E. it is crossed by the simple old bridge, now looking very humble, in the presence of its magnificent neighbour. The viaduct consists of five arches of immense span, it is built of a reddish stone, and is a noble erection. The traveller will do well to be alert and on the "look out" in this part, or the view will escape him. Westward lies Vale Royal Park, rich in the grandeur of its ancient woods, and nearly hidden among them is Delamere Abbey, the old and venerable seat of Lord Delamere. Little remains now of the ancient building, which was not, as described by Warton in his Elegy, seen "high o'er the trackless heath," but was seated in a deep valley on the banks of the river Weaver. The present mansion consists of a centre and two wings of red stone. The great hall is a magnificent apartment.

[Picture: Vale Royal Viaduct]

The marvellous enlightenment of the 19th century, great as we deem
it, has not yet penetrated those holes and corners of prejudice and
credulity, which serve for the hiding places of superstition, for
even in the eye of the Railroad itself are those living who speak
with awe of the so-called prophecies, said to be made by the poor
driveller Robert Nixon, the Cheshire sage. It so happens, very
oddly, that predictions are sometimes remembered _when_ verified, and
not before. So was the curious and very oracular one of the past
year, so often quoted,--

"A summer without a spring,
And an autumn without a king,"

which no one can deny was very remarkable indeed--only it was too
disloyal to be circulated till certainty had secured its truth. Poor
Nixon wishing, doubtlessly, to compliment his patrons, the
Cholmondeley family, with a "May-the-king-live-for-ever" kind of
benediction, promised that till certain stones or rocks near
Warrington came to Vale Royal, the prosperity of their family should
continue. Unluckily, stones have grown locomotive of late, and
"Birnam Wood doth come to Dunsinane," for the fatal rocks have become
part of the grand viaduct, which, far from bringing ill to the noble
Delamere, is a link in the mighty chain now weaving, which shall bind
together art, science, talent, wealth, and greatness, for the good of
all who are so blessed as to live in the age of RAILROADS.

The line passes through a deep cutting before arriving at the

HARTFORD STATION.

Distance to Birmingham, 65.75--Liverpool and Manchester, 31.75 miles.

DISTANCES BY ROADS FROM THIS STATION TO THE FOLLOWING PLACES:--

_Places W. of Station_. _Places E. of Station_. Newchurch 2.25 miles. Davenham 1.5 miles. Little Budworth 5.5 -- NORTHWICH 2 -- TARPORLEY 8 -- Great Budworth 6 -- Tarvin 10 -- NETHER KNUTSFORD 9 -- Great Barrow 11 -- Rostherne 10.5 -- Guilden Sutton 13 -- Mobberley 11.5 -- Waverton 13.5 -- Wilmslow 15.5 -- Christleton 13.5 -- CHESTER 16 --