124 HILLSIDE, ROCK, AND DALE 



sensation is that of being cut off from the outside 

 world, and noise and bustle of crowded town life 

 which is still near, the hum of which seems to make 

 itself heard beyond. This lane contains a little world 

 of wonders, yet this is only a corner of our sweet, 

 still unrivalled countryside. Although within a few 

 minutes' walk of a large county town it is a retreat of 

 superabundant bird life, and rich in Nature's gifts. 



I have always loved my Chaffinch Lane. It is in 

 no way disappointing, the name is in accordance with 

 the characteristics of the place. There was once 

 a Nightingale Lane in which a famous speaker and 

 writer lived in a pretty villa ; but instead of being 

 called after our chief of songsters, the prestige of the 

 lane all came from a public-house " The Nightin- 

 gale " ! That was about enough to ruffle a genuine 

 nightingale's feathers ; but such are the anomalies of 

 wild Nature in the suburbs. Its native wildness has 

 always charmed me, and the more I see of this the 

 more I am charmed, notwithstanding that many of 

 its old time characteristics are now no more to be 

 seen. In these days of "improvement" it seems to 

 be thought necessary even to destroy the sylvan 

 retreats and surroundings of a suburban town in the 

 endeavour to make all appear more modern or 

 London-like. Give me the old lanes and the old 

 ways, however; there seems to be a breath of the 

 good old times in a few, but a fast diminishing 



