FOOTPATHS 181 



more Common. The Common at another point may 

 be reached by a shorter cut. After entering a path 

 close by the lodge, open the first gate you come to 

 on the right hand. Cross the road, go through the 

 gate opposite, and either follow the road right out 

 upon Ranmore Common, past the beautiful deep 

 dell or ravine, or take a path which you will see on 

 your left, a few yards from the gate. This winds 

 through a very pretty wood, with glimpses of the 

 valley here and there on the way, and eventually 

 brings you out upon the carriage-drive to the house. 

 Turn to the right and you will soon find yourself 

 upon the Common. A road or path opens out in 

 front of the upper lodge gate. Follow that and it 

 will take you to a small piece of water from whence 

 a green path strikes off to the right, and this will 

 lead you all across the Common in a northerly direc- 

 tion," etc. Thus we may see how the country is 

 threaded with paths. A later writer, the author 

 of "The Gamekeeper at Home" and other books, 

 says: "Those only know a country who are ac- 

 quainted with its footpaths. By the roads, indeed, 

 the outside may be seen; but the footpaths go 

 through the heart of the land. There are routes 

 by which mile after mile may be traveled without 

 leaving the sward. So you may pass from village 

 to village; now crossing green meadows, now corn- 

 fields, over brooks, past woods, through farmyard 

 and rick ' barken. ' " 



The conditions of life in this country have not 

 been favorable to the development of byways. We 



