276 THE BRITISH ISLES. 



The basin oi the Ribble is less oxtensivo than tliat of the Mersey, but it 

 nevertheless contains a considerable population, and abounds in large mauu- 

 facturing towns. Entering this basin from the south-west, we first reach Wirjan, 

 on the Douglas, the centre of the Lancashire iron and coal district, with huge 

 iron works, cotton-mills, and collieries. One of the coal-pits in the neighbour- 

 hood of this town has the greatest depth of any in England, and the temperature 

 at its bottom is never less than 93° Fahr. Ince-in-Makcrfidd and Huidley are 

 smaller towns in the neighbourhood of Wigan, which engage in the same industries. 

 Orm.^kirk, a market town of some importance, famous for its gingerbread, lies 10 

 miles to the west. 



B/acJibnni, the principal town in the valley of the Darwen, is almost blacker 

 and noisier than other towns of this region ; but at all events it enjoys with the 

 towns in its neighbourhood the advantage of being surrounded by breezy hills. 

 Cotton-spinning is the leading industry here as well as at Over and Lotccr Daricen 

 and at OstrahUu-istle, but a good deal of machinery is also made, and much coal 

 won. Ileald knitting is still carried on as a home industry. Blackburn was the 

 birthplace of the first Sir Robert Peel, and of Hargreaves. the inventor of the 

 spinning-jenny. Its public buildings are on a noble scale, and contain a museum 

 and free library. 



Accn'nrjfon, though a neighbour of Blackburn, lies within the basin of the 

 Calder, which, like the Darwen, pays tribute to the Kibble. It is a place of 

 modern growth, with cotton-mills and chemical works, and has its satellites in 

 Church, Clayton-k-Moors, and Great Harwood. Burnley , near the junction of the 

 Calder and the Burn, in a broken and picturesque district, has a little woollen 

 trade in addition to that of cotton. Many gentlemen's seats are in its vicinity, 

 including that of the Towneley family, where casts of the Towneley marbles are 

 kept. Ascending the Calder, we pass through Brierfield ana Nelson, and reach the 

 ancient little town of Colne, the Roman Colunio, close to the Yorkshire boundary. 

 PadUicnn, an uninviting cotton town, is below Burnley, and is succeeded by the 

 pretty village of Whalley, with the ruins of its famous abbey. The Jesuit College of 

 Stovyhurst is in this neighbourhood, near the northern bank of the Ribble. 

 Clitheroe, a few miles farther up the Ribble, is picturesque despite its few cotton- 

 mills. It lies near the foot of the Pendle Hill (1,816 feet), a huge mass of 

 carboniferous limestone, formerly supposed to be the resort of the Lancashire 

 Witches. Biibits chamœmoriis, a semi-arctic plant, grows on the summit. 



Descending the Ribble, we pass the ancient village of Rihchester (it represents 

 the Cocium or Rifjodunum of the Romans), and reach Preston, majestically seated 

 upon the steep banks of the river, and at the head of its estuary. Preston is one 

 of the leading manufacturing towns of Lancashire, as befits the birthplace of 

 R. Arkwright, and carries on a considerable trade by sea. The wealth of the 

 town, joined to the beauty of its position, has won for it the epithet of " Proud." 

 The modern town-hall is a sumptuous building. The strike which took place here 

 in 18Ô3-54 was one of the most remarkable in history, for it lasted seven months. 

 Chorley, to the south of Preston, has cotton-mills and waggon works, and is a place 



