From an account published in 1818, it appeared that 200,000 tons of manufactured salt, and upwards of 40,000 tons of rock salt, were landed at Liverpool during the preceding year, and that upwards of 280,000 bushels are annually sold for internal consumption, by far the greatest proportion having been obtained in this neighbourhood; since that period the business has materially increased. The river Weaver and the Grand Trunk Canal afford great facilities for water-carriage from Northwich; and three hundred vessels are employed in the salt trade alone, which return laden with coal. Passing through one or two slight cuttings, the line commands a fine view of Grange Hall, which stands on a well-wooded hill, near to the railway on the W. Eastward, is the village of Weaverham, and Winnington Hall, and, in the distance, the Overton Hills. The cutting at Acton Heath terminates near the Acton Station. Distance to Birmingham, 68¼—Liverpool and Manchester, 29¼ miles. DISTANCES BY ROADS FROM THIS STATION TO THE FOLLOWING PLACES:— _Places W. of Station_. _Places E. of Station_. Crowton 1½ mile. Weaverham 1 mile. Cuddington 1¾ — Barnton 3 miles. Kingsley 3 miles. Great Budworth 5 — Delamere House 3½ — Tarvin 10¼ — HAVING left Acton, the prospect is much impeded for some distance by the frequent cuttings through which the line passes; in the intervals, the Overton Hills appear on the W. Aston Hall (seat of the late H. C. Aston, Esq.) and grounds are shortly seen on the E., and immediately in front lies Dutton Wood. The traveller now approaches the magnificent viaduct crossing the river Weaver and the valley of Dutton. This gigantic structure exceeds in magnitude anything of the kind yet accomplished in this country, or perhaps in Europe, not even excepting the Menai Bridge. The Viaduct is of the Gothic order, formed of red sand-stone procured from the neighbourhood of Bolton and Runcorn; it consists of twenty arches, of sixty feet span, and sixty feet in height, and the battlements add twelve feet more to the height; the whole length is 1,400 feet: 700,000 cubic feet of stone have been used in the work—the whole cost was £50,000. The grandeur of this stupendous work is greatly enhanced by the richness and beauty of the adjacent country. [Picture: Dutton Viaduct]