CENTRAL AND SOUTH LANCASHIRE. 



>T<O Central Lancashire we are introduced by the 

 railways which have their beginnings in the beauti- 

 ful portion of the Irwell-valley that lies below Prestwich 

 once little known, except to lovers of quiet green 

 fields, and the shaded path by the river-side. To these, 

 the many sweet walks commencing at Agecroft Bridge 

 were a perennial attraction Agecroft Park, the neigh- 

 bourhood of Clifton Aqueduct, and the woods and glens 

 that stretch from Diggle-hill (the great mound just be- 

 yond Kersal-moor,) through Prestwich and Stand, for a 

 length of at least two miles, were quite familiar ; but to 

 persons uninterested in the charms and productions of 

 nature, the railways gave the first opportunities of see- 

 ing what an extent of picturesque surface is contained 

 upon the left of the road to Bury, and at the same time, 



