THE COUXTRY. 



133 



Clatteihridge, and fiirihcr on receives a stream fro'n Thornton Houl;!), near 

 the road from I'julton to Rahy Mere. At this spot, tlie last ford remaining 

 in Wirral was spoiled by the (!ounly Council in 1891 " improving" the road 

 by building a bridge. As there was com[)aratively little trafific on tlvs road, 

 it seems a pity to have done away with the old ford ami foot-bridge. Raby 

 Mere is a beautiful artificial sheet of water, formed by a dam on a small 

 stream coming from Willaston, which, after turning the water-mill at the 

 mere, joins the above-mentioned brooks from Clatterbridge and Thornton, 

 and all run together into the 1 )ibbins(lale. A small stream runs from 

 Capenhurst past Great Sutton, and falls into the Mersey near Nelherpool ; 

 another from Badger's Rake falls into the Dee near Shotwick. With the 

 exception of the last-named brook and some field-drains into the Dee, all 

 the watershed of A\'irral may be said to How into the Mersey. 'J'his is 

 accounted for by the fact that tiicre is a good elevation along, and close to, 

 the shore of the Dee from A\'est Kirby to Burton, having a short steep side 

 to the Dee, and a long, gently sloping valley to the Mersey. 



