The Goyt and the Mersey. 4 1 



stream. The stony bed of the brook in the wood first 

 entered yields fossil vegetable remains, and all the 

 way are curious plants. The river at this part, and 

 downwards from the point where it is entered by the 

 Etherowe, namely, about two hundred yards below 

 Compstall-bridge, a little distance above Marple Aque- 

 duct, is by some writers incorrectly termed the Mersey; 

 and the Ordnance Survey, misled by certain ignorant 

 persons, has unfortunately given countenance to the 

 error. The Mersey commences, not at the junction of 

 the Etherowe with the Goyt, but where the Goyt is 

 joined by the Tame ; that is to say, a little below Port- 

 wood-bridge, in the north-western suburb of Stockport. 

 The last-named river rises in Yorkshire, and, during its 

 course of about ten miles, is the dividing-line between 

 the contiguous parts of Cheshire and Lancashire, con- 

 cluding its flow in Haughton-dale. It is the Goyt, 

 accordingly, which we find at Marple, and which runs 

 under Otterspool-bridge, and afterwards past Bredbury 

 Hall and the beautiful opposite scenery of Wood-bank. 

 The rush of water below Otterspool is sometimes very 

 strong. At Stockport, however, the river is by no 

 means what it was formerly. In 1745, when the bridge 

 at Stockport was blown up in order to check the retreat 

 of the Pretender, it is recorded to have run beneath the 

 arches " with great fury." 



If, after departure from Guide-bridge, we stop at 

 Woodley, or make our way to that place from the 



