Rostherne, 89 



Lymm is Warburton, with its ancient and threefold 

 church, and Methuseloid yews, as old probably as those 

 in the Bowdon graveyard, which are no doubt contem- 

 porary with the oldest part of the church, say, in all like- 

 lihood, of 800 years' growth ! 



Returning to the Bowdon line, we may now pay a 

 visit to far-famed and often-described ROSTHERNE. Al- 

 though the distance is somewhat shortened by going to 

 the Ashley station on the Knutsford line, the old route 

 by Bowdon vicarage remains the best, that is to say, for 

 pedestrians. The carriage-road is of course unchanged, 

 skirting Dunham Park, and descending the hill by what 

 was once Newbridge-hollow, notorious in connexion 

 with the name of Turpin. The vicarage is soon dis- 

 covered, lying close to Mr Neild's model farm, on the 

 way to the "Ashley meadows" and "Ashley Mill." 

 Going behind it, through a little plantation, we proceed 

 by many curves and angles, yet without material per- 

 plexity, into the lane which looks down upon the eastern 

 extremity of the mere. No field-path in our country is 

 more tempting. The views on either side, charming at 

 all seasons, are peculiarly so in spring, when the trees 

 are pouring their new green leaves into the sunshine, 

 and the rising grass and mingled wild-flowers flood the 

 ground with living brightness ; in the meadow, just be- 

 fore coming to the foot-bridge over the Bollin, are count- 

 less specimens of the helmet-orchis, and beyond these is 



