Lindow Common. 117 



Norcliffe may be approached also from Wilmslow, the 

 next station beyond, chiefly through pleasant lanes; and 

 on the whole, perhaps more agreeably than from Hand- 

 forth, the path from which place is much trodden. In 

 June, the hedgerows are ornamented with roses and 

 honeysuckle ; the germander-speedwell decks the banks 

 with innumerable spots of rich blue ; and the mouse-ear 

 hawkweed, that so loves the sunshine, opens hundreds 

 of its pretty lemon-tinted patines. 



Wilmslow offers the pleasantest means of access, and 

 in this case the readiest also, to LINDOW COMMON, that 

 broad and celebrated tract of moorland which reaches as 

 far as Chorley, and from time immemorial has been 

 famed for its bracing air. Formerly it was of much 

 greater extent. Cultivation on the margins, step by step, 

 every year advancing a little farther, like besiegers with 

 their "parallels" before a fortress, has now covered with 

 valuable crops many acres that were previously unprofit- 

 able. Almost all the interesting bog and moorland 

 plants of our neighbourhood are found upon it, in one 

 part or another. Three species of heath the cranberry, 

 the Andromeda, and the Lancashire-asphodelgrow 

 here abundantly; and wherever the ground is wet, as 

 upon Carrington-moss, Rixton-moss, and in all similar 

 places, there are myriads of Droseras, commonly called 

 "fly-catchers" and "sundews."- No plants in nature are 

 more remarkable for their beauty or their vital economy. 

 The leaves are covered and bordered with strong red 



