120 RAMBLES WITH A HAMMER. 
the district (see his letters to the Times on the habits of the badgers who 
made their home here.) Turning to the left hand and going southwards 
we enter a bye-road which leads through Swithland Wood. Here is 
a quarry of great depth, (about 250 feet,) worked by Messrs. John Ellis 
and Sons. The slates are of a dull blue tint, not cleaving so well as the 
Welsh slates, but producing a roofing material which is practically ever- 
lasting. The dip is E. 30°. No fossils, we have already remarked, are 
known to occur in any Charnwood rocks, yet every student would do well 
to search these Swithland slates. Prof. Morris once told us that long 
ago he devoted three days to the task, and felt some chagrin at his 
want of success; but ‘“‘never despair” must be the watchword, and it is 
our firm conviction that these Charnwood strata will yet at some point 
or other yield us evidence of life. How all-important such a discovery 
would be it needs no words to point out. Other attractions of Swithland 
wood are the many rare mosses, and the snakes and blind-worms which 
may be found by turning over a few of the large stones. Going south, 
and clambering, if necessary, over one or two stone walls, we strike the 
straight piece of road which runs up Ling Dale, and which, with its 
northern continuation to Sheepshed, runs so nearly along the line which 
separates the eastern and western dips, that it deserves the name of the 
“ Anticlinal Road.” Turning to the left (south-east) and walking down 
this road we reach Holgate (Hall-gates) Lodge, and enter Bradgate Park 
on the right. The path runs right through this famous demesne, leaying 
Holgate Hill on the right, and with a large reservoir (140 acres) on the 
left. Soon we pass the ruins of Bradgate House, once the home of Lady 
Jane Grey. A little quarry on the left hand (across the brook) shows 
quartz-grit, and fine slates. Old John Hill, capped by a tower, (a 
modern erection,) rises on the right hand to a height of about 720ft., its 
sides and top show well the banded slates so characteristic of Charnwood ; 
they dip 60° south. Close at hand (south-west) is the village of Newtown 
Linford, where artists flock in summer to sketch the fine “bits” of 
scenery in the neighbourhood, and where, at the ‘Bradgate Arms,” (Beck’s,) 
every want can be supplied. 
Taking the south road, (nearly opposite the little old church,) a 
mile’s walk brings us to Groby Pool, a fine sheet of water, forty acres. 
Further on is a large syenite quarry (left-hand side of road) where the 
Triassic marls are very finely exposed, dipping away from the igneous 
rock. Now we near Groby Village, and observe a mound on the right, 
the only vestige of the old castle ; close by is part of an old manor-house, 
the residence of Elizabeth Woodville, afterwards the queen of Edward IY. 
Then turning to the left (east-south-east) we have a four miles’ walk over 
the Trias to Leicester. 
Srconp Wark, from Bardon Hill to Green Hill, High Towers, 
Charley, Nanpantan, Forest Gate, and Loughborough. 
Bardon Station is on the Leicester and Burton branch of the Midland 
Railway. As many trains do not stop there, it may in some cases be 
more convenient to get out at Coalville (the next station towards Burton) 
and join the route here given at the Forest Rock Inn. 
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