8 
England, it being the first place reached by runaway couples from 
the south where they could get the nuptial knot legally tied. 
Crossing the small river Sark we are on English ground, and the 
railway sweeping round the head of the Solway Firth through a 
flat but pleasing landscape, Carlisle was reached about 4 o'clock. 
Southward from Carlisle the route lies through a fine stretch of 
grazing and agricultural country, with the Cumberland Fells 
occupying the background. The thriving town of Penrith, with its 
ancient castle, the remains of which are seen close to the railway 
station, is situated about 18 miles from Carlisle. About 3 
miles farther on the line passes on the right Lowther Castle, in 
Westmoreland, standing in the midst of an extensive and richly- 
wooded domain, the scene of the first Excursion of the Society 
across the Border. The railway is now rapidly ascending to the 
watershed of the Fells, and reaches the highest point, about 
1000 feet, on the route between Edinburgh and London, near 
Shap, about 12 miles south of Penrith, The country is 
picturesque and wild, but the prevailing feature of the beautiful 
dales that the line traverses, and which stretch far into the 
distance on either side between the precipitous Fells, is the fresh 
verdancy of their rich pasturage, on which graze the numerous 
herds of well-bred cattle for which the dales are celebrated. 
Birbeck Dale and Lune Dale are traversed in succession till 
Tebay Junction is reached on the confines of Yorkshire, where 
the line makes a deep bend to the right among the hills into the 
Kendal district, and pursuing its course almost due south, enters 
Lancashire near the head of Morecambe Bay, which lies on the 
right, backed on the north by the hills of the Lake District. 
Soon Lancaster and its ancient castle, the stronghold of John of 
Gaunt, now modernised and used for county purposes, are passed, 
and the route lies through a rather level and uninteresting country 
till Preston was reached at 6 o’clock, where dinner was served to 
the company in their carriages. 
Leaving Preston, the route lies through a busy and populous 
district, where mining and manufacturing are the chief industries, 
and where arborescent vegetation is seen in most parts struggling 
for a miserable existence in the murky and polluted atmosphere. 
Crossing the Mersey at Warrington into Cheshire, and leaving 
the factories and coal-pits behind, the landscape rapidly improves 
as the line runs up the valley of the Weaver, through the rich 
pastures of the ‘ Wich,” or salt district of Cheshire, till Crewe is 
