SOME four centuries ago the forest of 
Rossendale was a royal hunting 
ground, and so thick was the 
undergrowth in the valleys that it formed a 
place of conceal- 
ment for both 
h u m an and 
animal robbers. 
C o n s e quently, 
t r a V e 1 1 ers, in 
bygone days, 
sought to avoid 
those danger 
places and in- 
variably kept to 
the highest 
ground. This 
fact accounts for 
many of the 
olden roads 
being along the 
hill tops. All 
this, however, 
has changed, 
many will say 
for the better. 
The forest has 
long since dis- 
appeared, and 
in its place have 
arisen numerous 
factories with 
their countless chimneys. Tt has been said 
that where years ago a squirrel could traverse 
the Rossendale district by jumping from tree 
to tree he can now do so by jumping from 
chimney to chimney. However, the 
atmosphere is still sufficiently pure to allow 
of remarkable results beino; obtained in the 
Richard Ashworth, Esq., J.P. 
cultivation of Orchids. It is in this hilly 
district of Rossendale, some Soo feet above 
sea level, that the collection of Richard 
Ashworth, Esq., has long been established. 
The Ashworth 
family, so well 
known in Lan- 
cashire, can be 
traced back to 
the year iioo. 
To-day it has a 
worthy member 
in Air. Richard 
Ashworth, who 
besides being a 
Justice of the 
Peace for the 
County of 
L a n c a s ter, is 
Treasurer of the 
Manchester 
Orchid Society, 
and at the age of 
65 spends the 
leisure hours of 
his oth e r w i s e 
busy commercial 
life in the in- 
teresting hobby 
of Orchid 
culture. Mr. 
Ashworth, it 
should be mentioned, is looked upon as the 
authority on the Rossendale dialect, a subject 
upon which he has several times lectured. 
Twenty-one years ago saw the commence- 
ment of this collection, and during the last 
sixteen years the owner has been engaged in 
selecting choice forms and varieties with such 
