A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 
port. Coal mining is carried on successfully and on a large scale in the lower Derwent 
valley and along the course of the river Ellen from Maryport to Ireby, the produce being 
shipped from the ports of Workington and Maryport, exclusive of the large quantities used in 
the local furnaces and other industries. ‘There is a considerable belt of limestone running 
diagonally across the county, from the Eamont near Skirsgill by way of Redhills to Johnby and 
Greystoke Park, Hewer Hill, Warnel, Catlands, Ireby and Tallentire to the river Derwent, 
crossing that river into District No. I. at Brigham. From this station it extends by way of 
Eaglesfield, Pardshaw Crag, Rowrah and Hensingham to the sea beyond Egremont. Along 
this line a number of plants may be found generally classed as xerophilous, which are of very 
rare occurrence elsewhere. Among these are Helleborus viridis, L.; Hypericum hirsutum, L. ;. 
Dipsacus sylvestris, Huds. ; Origanum vulgare, L. ; Scabiosa Columbaria, L. (this species also 
appears in great abundance on what is known as ‘the Forge Green’ at Hawksdale, probably 
brought down by the impetuous stream of the Caldew from the limestone of Warmel or 
Hewer Hill, some six miles higher up the river); Campanula glomerata, L., Helianthemum 
Chamecistus, Mill, ete. 
Between the Caldew and the Ellen valleys on the summit level lies a ridge, the chief 
points in which are Hewer Hill, Warnel Fell, Brocklebank and Catlands, all on the limestone ; 
and between the Ellen and the Derwent rivers is another ridge bearing at different points the 
names of Binsey, Caermote, Whittes, Moota, and Tallentine Hill: the three first being outlying 
spurs from Skiddaw belong to the slate formation, the last two are on the limestone with 
occasional outcrops of a greyish white sandstone of highly fossiliterous nature. Northward 
and eastward from Aspatria to the river Eden the district is flat and of almost uniform level, 
composed for the most part of alluvial soil, apparently the detritus of the rocks of the Lake 
district brought down from the mountains and deposited where at present found. The Abbey 
Holme district is especially level, and towards the Solway in the Silloth neighbourhood, the 
soil, said to rest upon quicksand, is mostly of a fertile quality. 
Some special notice must here be made of a most interesting botanical station lying 
within the limits of the area now under consideration. ‘This is a plot of boggy ground about 
thirty acres in extent, lying about three miles westward of the town of Penrith near the 
ancient village of Newton Regny and known as Newton Regny Moss. It is rectangular in 
outline, and is owned in part by the people of Newton on the one side, and by the inhabitants 
of Newbiggin, a village in the adjoining parish of Dacre, on the other. A sluggish stream of 
moss water of almost inky blackness running the entire length of the ground divides the en- 
closure into two unequal portions; the larger share pertains to Newton, being equal to about 
224 acres. This part has been subdivided into a number of small allotments, answering to 
the number of resident proprietors, each of whom had his ‘ peat-pot,’ separated from that 
of his neighbour by a ‘reaine’ or narrow strip of ground, on which the newly dug peats were 
spread to dry. The supply of peaty material seems to have become exhausted, and the ‘ pots’ 
are filled well-nigh to the brim with water of the same character as that in the brook. It is 
impossible to make a thorough examination : the only plan to be adopted by strangers is to 
walk along by the ‘reaines,’ the remaining portions not being negotiable except during 
seasons of exceptionally dry weather. Besides the botanical rarities presently to be mentioned 
the locality has been described as the paradise of ‘ black-headed gulls (Larus ridibundus) snipes, 
water-hens, frogs and dragonflies.’ A few of the plants may be mentioned, several of which 
are only to be gathered here, and those mostly of the aquatic family, viz. : * Ranunculus Lingua, 
L., R.  Flammula, L, (in abundance) ; Trollius europeus, L. ; Parnassia palustris, L. ; Galum 
palustre var. b. elongatum (Presl.) ; Valeriana officinalis, L. (attains to quite a remarkable growth 
on some of the ‘reaines’); MMenyanthes trifoliata, L.; Veronica Anagallis, L.; Ubtricularia 
vulgaris, L. (very abundant and showy in August) ; Mentha sativa, L.; Prunella vulgaris, L. 
(var. alba) ; Salix fragilis, L. (often planted, but truly wild at such places as Newton Regny 
Moss, Penrith. J. G. Baker, 1883) ; LEpipactis palustris, Crantz ; Habenaria chloroleuca 
Ridley ; Typha latifolia, L.; Potamogeton plantagineus, Du Croz; * Schenus nigricans, L.; 
* Cladium jamaicense, Crantz ; Carex teretiuscula, Good. ; * C. limosa, L.; * C. filiformis, L. ; 
C. rostrata, Stokes ; Equisetum limosum, Sm. ; * Chara polyacantha, Braun.' 
Adonis autumnalis, L., grew in large quantities in a crop of flax on a farm at Flimby in 
1885, where it was associated with about an equal amount of Plantago arenaria, Waldst. and 
Kit. Glaucium pheeniceum, Crantz, at Derwent Tinplate Works, 1893-94. Aconitum 
1 The plants to which an asterisk (*) is prefixed are found at this station only, and most of them 
were recorded for the first time by the author. 
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