Page:The Grand junction railway companion to Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham; (IA grandjunctionrai00free).pdf/77

 enormous a sum on a race between two grubs, that on losing it, this estate was obliged to be mortgaged for the payment; on his death, the present noble occupant did, with filial chivalry, allow the remaining portion of the debt to be paid out of the estate, which has hitherto caused him to live in comparative seclusion, without such an establishment as this pre-eminently English mansion would appear to demand."

52 45½

Basford Hall is to the right; its glory has departed, and it is now no more than the residence of an English yeoman.

50½ 46¾

To the left is a farm house, of Elizabethan appearance; proprietor, Mr. Garnet. A little to the north formerly stood Chorlton Hall: the cottage, which is evidently an appendage thereto, was formerly fortified, and is to this day called the Moat House.

49¾ 47½

We are now approaching the borders of Staffordshire, which are but half a mile to the left, and continue about that distance for the next two miles, when we enter that county. From this spot, looking to the left, is another scene worthy of the pencil of a Claude—hill and valley, wood and village, covering a county, the surface of which is only surpassed in riches by the mineral treasures contained in its bosom. To the