134 THE BATH ROAD 



The road tlirougli Hare Hatch to Twyford is flat 

 and uninteresting. Twyford itself, an ancient place 

 on the little river Loddon, is losing its antique 

 character, from beino- the scene of much buildinof 

 activity. An old almshouse remains on the right 

 hand, with the inscription, " Domino et pauperibus, 

 1640." 



The five miles between Twyford and Reading 

 exhibit the gradual degeneracy of a country road 

 approaching a large town ; as regards the scenery, 

 that is to say. The quality of the road surface 

 remains excellent, and the width is generous — a cir- 

 cumstance prol^ably owing to the especial widening 

 carried out so far back as 1255, in consequence of 

 the dansrerous state of the hio-hwav, which was then 

 narrow and bordered by dense woods wherein lurked 

 all manner of evildoers. 



Three miles from the town, and continuing for the 

 length of a mile, is a pleasant avenue of trees. The 

 deep Sonning Cutting on the Great Western Railway 

 is then crossed, and the suburbs of Biscuit Town 

 presently encountered. 



XXIII 



" The run to Reading," I learn from a cycling 

 paper, " constitutes a pleasant morning's sj^iu from 

 London." I should like to call up one of our great- 

 grandfathers who travelled these thirty-nine miles 

 painfully by coach, and read that paragraph to him. 



Reading numbers over G0,000 inhabitants, and 



