The Woodland Reservoirs. 175 



the water is conveyed through stone conduits, six feet 

 high, inside measurement. Thence, to Denton, it is sent 

 through an iron pipe forty inches in diameter; and 

 thence it moves to Ardwick, where the town arteries 

 commence. It is from Denton, accordingly, that Man- 

 chester receives its direct supply of water, and Denton 

 being 200 feet above the level of the Exchange, of course 

 it is from this place that the pressure is communicated, 

 and not, as commonly supposed, from the Etherowe- 

 valley reservoirs. The collecting-grounds of these great 

 water-works extend from ten miles beyond Woodhead 

 down to the village of Hyde, and are nearly 19,000 

 acres in extent. They consist chiefly of moorland, 

 covered with immense sponges of peat, which retaining 

 the rain, serve a purpose corresponding to that of the 

 snows and glaciers upon the Alps, so varied are the ways 

 in which the munificence of nature is expressed. The 

 scheme of the Manchester water-works appears to be 

 perfect. In the first week of October 1865, "when," 

 says Mr Curtis, " owing to the deficiency of rain during 

 the previous months, Blackburn, Ashton-under-Lyne, and 

 other places were restricted to one or two hours' daily 

 supply, and Liverpool had a full supply for only a few 

 days longer, the Manchester Corporation had on hand 

 full seven to eight weeks' daily supply. The daily sup- 

 ply of water to Manchester is about twenty-four millions 

 of gallons, consequently at that time there were about a 

 thousand millions of gallons on hand. A fall of rain 



