LON, RAMBLE OVER DERBYSHIRE HILLS AND DALES. 
and other matters. ‘he wheels were furnished with drags for 
descending steep hills more easily, while to the front part of the 
vehicle were attached ropes for pulling up-hill. The whole outfit 
would weigh about 3 cwt. as near as I can guess. 
Rowsley has great attractions for angler and artist, and good 
accommodation too, at its famed ‘‘ Peacock ” Hotel; but our work 
commenced not here on this occasion, so off we started to 
Chatsworth, passing Beeley, with its recently-built vicarage and 
ancient treeembosomed church, on the road which keeps 
company with the river till we get to the rude lodge and gates* at 
the southern extremity of the park. ‘The storms of Saturday and 
Sunday had laid all the dust and freshened the hedgerows ; the 
wild honeysuckle, the beautiful blue wild geranium and harebell ° 
embroidered the roadside ; the river sparkled in the sun, a fresh 
breeze moved amongst the trees, and light fleecy clouds chased 
each other o’er “ the blue ethereal field.” 
We are now within the largest park in the county ; an enchant- 
ing region of hill and dale, wood and water, patches of bracken 
and broad sweeps of greenest turf, enlivened by cattle and herds 
of deer. Soon we come to a halt on the south-west of the stately 
hall, “the Palace of the Peak,” as it has been fitly termed ; and, 
while taking a view, are informed by an old man at work on the 
carriage-drive, that sixty tons of glass had already arrived to 
repair the damages of the storms of last June, when upwards of 
five thousand pieces were smashed by the hail in the great 
conservatory alone! Another view from the north-west, and on 
we go to the northern and principal entrance to the park, taking 
the house built for Sir Joseph Paxton on the way—called, I 
believe, Barbrook Hall. Turning to the left, after leaving the 
lodge, and passing the pretty house of Mr. Condell, which, like the 
other Chatsworth buildings, is also in the Italian style of archi- 
tecture, we entered the village of Baslow. Close by the Derwent 
stands the Church, a picturesque structure, in the Later English 
style ; the chancel has lately (1853) been built. While Mr. W. 
* A pretty lodge and gate have long since replaced these. 
