54 Country Rambles. 



and violet, the great parti-coloured dead-nettle, which 

 here grows in luxuriant perfection. Up to the very end 

 of autumn this district is quite a garden to the practical 

 botanist. Where cultivated and uncultivated land adjoin, 

 just as where land and sea come in contact, there is 

 always found the largest variety and plenty, alike of 

 vegetable and of animal life; and nowhere is this more 

 marked than on the borders of Carrington Moss. The 

 cottages near the moss are but few. Tea may be pro- 

 cured nevertheless, if we are content to run the risk of 

 there being no milk, which, like fish by the sea-side, is 

 often a scarce thing even in the heart of the country; 

 but on a pleasant summer evening, when everything else 

 is fair and contenting, he must be a grumbler indeed who 

 would let this spoil his enjoyment. Half a loaf enjoyed 

 with one's friends, far away in the sweet silence of nature, 

 and a happy walk home afterwards, with loving faces right 

 and left, is better, ten times over, than a luxurious meal 

 got by coming away prematurely. All this part of the 

 country is remarkable also for the luxuriance of its culi- 

 nary vegetables. The rhubarb is some of the finest 

 grown near Manchester, and it is quite a treat to look at 

 the beans. 



Another way to the moss, available for residents at 

 Bowdon, is through Oldfield, and by Seaman's Moss 

 Bridge, where we cross the Warrington railway, to 

 Sinderland, looking out when thus far for a lane upon the 

 right, bordered first by birch-trees and afterwards by 

 oaks. All these lanes, like those on the Ash ton side of 



