BEMROSE & SONS, Derby. BROWN & SONS, Macclesfield. BUTLER, S., Altrincham. BURGHOPE & STRANGE, Burnley. BURGESS, HENRY, Northwich. COOKE, Stretford Road, Manchester. CORNISH, J. E., Piccadilly and St. Ann’s Square, Manchester. DODGSON, J., Leeds. DAY, T. J., Market Street, Manchester. DOOLEY, HENRY, Stockport. GALT, J. & CO., Corporation Street, Manchester. GRAY, HENRY, Topographical Bookseller, 25, Cathedral Yard, Manchester. GRUNDY, 68, Woodhouse Lane, Wigan. HOWELL, E., Liverpool. HOLDEN, ADAM, 48, Church Street, Liverpool. HEYWOOD, ABEL & SON, Oldham Street, Manchester. KENYON, W., Newton Heath, Manchester. LITTLEWOOD, JAMES, Ashton-under-Lyne. LUPTON, J. & A., Burnley. MINSHULL & HUGHES, Chester. PEARSE, J. C., Southport. PEARSE, PERCIVAL, Warrington. PHILLIPSON & GOLDER, Chester. PLATT, RICHARD, Wigan. RIDER, Leek. ROWORTH, St Ann’s Square, Manchester. ROBINSON, Preston. SMITH, W. H. & SON, 1, New Brown Street, Manchester. SMITH, W. H. & SON, L. & N. W. Railway and M. S. & L. Railway Bookstalls, London Road Station, Manchester. STOCK, ELLIOT, 62, Paternoster Row, London, E.C. TUBBS & BROOK, Market Street, Manchester. TRÜBNER & CO., London. WALMSLEY, G. G., 50, Lord Street, Liverpool. YABSLEY & CO., Sale, Cheshire. [Illustration] [Illustration] NOOKS AND CORNERS OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE. CHAPTER I. A RAILWAY RAMBLE—THE ROMAN CITY ON THE RIBBLE—A DAY-DREAM AT RIBCHESTER. On a bright morning in the exuberant summer time, ere the country had lost the freshness of its earlier beauty, or the forest trees had begun to bend beneath the weight of their blushing burdens, we found ourselves on the platform of the Victoria Station with a friend, the companion of many a pleasant wandering, equipped for a journey to the fair country which skirts the base of Pendle Hill. We were both in high spirits, and the beauty of the opening day added to our enjoyment The morning was cool and clear, and radiant with the early sunshine—one of those genial days when, as Washington Irving says, we seem to draw in pleasure with the very air we breathe, and to feel happy we know not why—the invigorating freshness of the atmosphere giving a pleasant impulse to the spirits. There had been a slight fall of rain during the night, but the breeze which followed had dried up the roadways, and now all was bright and clear, and the unclouded sun poured down a flood of brilliance that added to the charms of the early morn, imparting a gladdening influence which even the sparrows seemed to share as they flitted to and fro about the eaves with unceasing twitter.