9 
reached at 7.25 p.m. A few miles farther Staffordshire is entered, 
and away on the left for many miles stretches the great North 
Staffordshire mining district, and the far-famed Potteries, of which 
Stoke-on-Trent is the centre. Approaching Stafford, the land- 
scape assumes a more pleasing aspect, and as we have now reached 
the middle of England, the scenery is of a thoroughly southern 
type. Many extensive domains and ancestral mansions are seen, 
close to the route or in the distance, as the train hurries past, and 
the country generally has a comfortable and well-clothed appear- 
ance, After passing Stafford, the line skirts the northern edge of 
the ancient forest of Cannock Chase, a wild moorish upland, the 
highest tableland in England, extending to about 25,000 acres, 
which, formerly covered with wood, is now generally bleak and 
bare, though in places very rich in minerals, and a busy centre of 
mining industry. The Trent is crossed at Colwich, and its 
northern bank followed for a few miles past Rugeley, when it 
is recrossed and left behind on the way to Lichfield. Away on 
the left as we pass Rugeley, and lying in the great bend of the 
Trent where it turns north-eastward, is the ancient royal forest of 
Needwood, which formerly extended to about 90,000 acres, but is 
now all enclosed, and mostly under cultivation. Oak predomi- 
nated in this forest, and many fine trees still remain, especially 
in Bagot’s Wood. The famed Swilcar Oak, the ‘ Monarch” of 
Needwood, is said to be at least six centuries old, and girths 
21 feet at 5 feet up. 
After passing Lichfield, the bosky hedgerows, thickly studded 
with tall stately elms, the rich meadows, and well-tilled fields of 
the Midlands, form a charming landscape, and present an attrac- 
tive view of English rural life. At Tamworth the line enters 
Warwickshire, and runs through a rich level country with a 
beautifully wooded landscape, till it passes into Northamptonshire 
about 3 miles beyond Rugby. Traversing the southern part of that 
county for about 20 miles, and just before leaving it, the Royal 
Forest of Salcey, 1847 acres, chiefly occupied with oak for naval pur- 
poses, is seen on the left, while away in the opposite direction to the 
right lies the wide tract of Whittlebury Forest, in which the beech 
gains the ascendency, and maintains it throughout Buckingham- 
shire, which we next traverse. On the eastern confines of Bucks, 
on the right of the line, stands Mentmore, the princely seat of the 
Earl of Rosebery; and from this point, all the way through 
Herts and Middlesex to London, is a succession of the mansions, 
