Great Britain -- Description and travel; Railroad travel -- Great Britain; Railroads -- Great Britain
Derbyshire possesses two kinds of scenery totally distinct in character, but
both remarkably picturesque, several natural curiosities of a very striking
character, two very pleasant bath towns,--Buxton and Matlock; beside the
antiquarian glories of Hardwicke and Haddon, and the palatial magnificence of
Chatsworth, with its porticoes, its fountains, its pleasure grounds, its
Victoria Regia, and the House of Glass that has been the means of making
Joseph Paxton famous all over the civilized world.
While the country round the Peak is wild, bare, and rugged, the line of
valleys and dales on which lies the road from Matlock to Burton and
Manchester, presents the most charming series of pictures of undulating
woodland scenery, adorned by mansions and cottages, that it is possible to
imagine. The high road continually runs along the steep side of valleys,--on
one side are thick coverts climbing the rocky hill-sides, all variegated with
wild flowers, briars, and brushwood; on the other side, sometimes on a level
with the road, sometimes far below, a river winds and foams and brawls along;
if lost for a short distance, again coming in sight of the road, enlivening
and refreshing the scene.
In the main avenue of the Crystal Palace, Mr. Carrington exhibited a model
which represented with extraordinary accuracy all this country, and which
gave a very exact picture of Derbyshire, with all the undulations of its
hills and rivers worked to a scale. Those who have never been in the county
should endeavour to see it, as it will teach them that we have a Switzerland
in England of which they knew not.
One charm of this part of Derbyshire is the intermixture of cultivation and
wild nature, or woods so planted as to well emulate nature. On bits of level
space you meet a cottage neatly built of stone, all covered with roses and
woodbines, which flourish wonderfully on the loose soil in the showery
atmosphere. The cottages of Derbyshire are so pretty that you are at first
inclined to imagine that they are for show,--mere fancy buildings. But no;
the cheapness of good building stone, the suitability of the soil for
flowering shrubs, and perhaps something in the force of example, create
cottage after cottage fit for the dwellings of Arcadian lovers. And every
now and then the landscape opens on a villa or mansion so placed that there
is nothing left for the landscape gardener to do.
The farm buildings, and corn mills, and silk mills, are equally picturesque:
game abounds. Early in the morning and in the evening you may often see the
pheasants feeding close to the roadside, and, in the middle of the day, the
sudden sharp noise of a detonating ball will set them crowing in the woods
all around.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account