Gawswortk, i c 7 



Macclesfield being reached, the North Staffordshire 

 line conveys us onward to "North Rode Junction," 

 distant not quite five miles, at which point the " Churnet 

 Valley" diverges eastwards for Leek, &c. Here, leaving 

 the train, we are face to face with the towering grandeur 

 of Cloud-end, the mountain seen so distinctly from the 

 fields between Bowdon and the Bollin-valley. Keeping 

 Cloud-end to the left, we descend the green lane, re- 

 marking, as we advance, a sheet of water upon the right 

 and a mansion upon the summit of the rising ground be- 

 hind it, the residence of Mrs Thomas Daintry, and 

 then enter North Rode park, the tower of North Rode 

 church coming into view as soon as the park is reached. 

 Through the park there is a road "on sufferance," 

 which leads presently to fields and to Rode Green, 

 where there is a farmhouse. Passing this, we shortly 

 afterwards traverse a bit of uncultivated ground, with 

 some old trees, furze-bushes, &c., (a fragment of some 

 ancient wilderness,) then move on through more green 

 fields, bordered right and left with agreeable scenery, 

 and so reach GAWSWORTH. 



If any place be the beau-ideal of a rural retreat, this 

 one may assert just claims. The ancient trees, the 

 church, the dignified old residences, all speak at once 

 of long-standing and undisturbed respectability. Inside 

 the church, at the communion end, are some curious 

 monuments and interesting inscriptions ; in the grave- 

 yard stand patriarchal yews, one of them, now only a 



