CHAPTER XL 



BY THE MIDLAND LINE. 



But the dell, 



Bathed in the mist, is fresh and delicate 

 As vernal cornfield, or the unripe flax, 

 When through its half-transparent stalks at eve 

 The level sunshine glimmers with green light. 



S. T. COLERIDGE. 



HE opening of the Midland line through 

 Marple, like that of the L. & N. W. through 

 Disley, was hailed with immense delight by 

 all lovers of country rambles. Access thereto 

 previously was possible only on foot, or by 

 canal, and in either case the journey was 

 rather long. Chadkirk, soon reached, is a 

 celebrated old village thought by some to preserve the 

 name of the once greatly-honoured patron-saint com- 

 memorated also in Chadderton, Chaddock, Chatburn, 

 and Chat Moss; by others, to refer to one "Earl Cedda." 

 Be that as it may, the tradition of the old missionary's 

 once abiding here still clings to Chadkirk, and a clear 

 spring by the roadside, upon the left, going up the hill 

 near the church, and now lined with mosses, is to this 

 K 



