and the yellow and green tints of time and weather, also give a degree of softness to the rugged pile. The greatest curiosity I saw at Maum Tor was, the river issuing at the bottom of the rock; there is not the smallest space between the surface of the water and the solid rock. The breadth of this river, as it glides from the pile of rocks, may be, as far as I could judge by my eye, not less than forty feet; it issues perfectly level, and runs off in the small hollow to the village of Maum, from whence it flows on to Leeds, &c.; its banks, and the moor just around the Tor, are ornamented with scattered birch, and mountain ash trees. In advancing to Maum Tor, I found springs rising at almost every step I took. The river at Maum Tor is the Air, and has its source from a lake near Penegent Hill; but how it gets under Maum Tor, I cannot tell. The carriage road down to the village of Maum is very bad for horses; it would be, for that reason, more advisable for those who travel with their own horses, to send them on the straight road to Skipton, 16 miles, and hire post-horses, which are used to the road, to take them round by Gordale.
At Skipton is a very neat inn, near the ancient castle of Skipton. This town is situated in a beautiful part of Craven. Between Skipton and Leeds the river Air winds lovely in the vale.
Wharfedale is well worth visiting, which you may do by going to Otley. You may then turn to the east, and take a view of Studley Park, Fountains Abbey, Hackfall, Harewood, Harrogate, York, &c.
My road lay from Skipton to Keighley, 10 miles; a charming drive through Craven, and very good road.
From Keighley to Halifax, 12 miles; a very bad road; hilly and dreary to a great degree.
Halifax is a large and dirty manufacturing town, most beautifully situated amongst mountains, woods, and rivers.
The Halifax innkeepers follow the example of their neighbours in Lancashire, and charge three-pence per mile more, for post-horses, than in the other parts of Yorkshire.
From Halifax to Rochdale, over Blackstone Edge (a ridge of mountains so called), 16 miles, of very hilly bad road. There is, I was told, a beautiful road, somewhat farther about, through some dale, and not over Blackstone Edge, that, if it had not been near winter, I should certainly have taken.
There are no very great beauties in Rochdale; and the town (most part of it) is very dirty, and the streets very narrow: but, from experience, I know some of the inhabitants to be very kind, hospitable, and truly friendly; and besides, the Rochdale women are in general handsome. Avoid passing through Rochdale on Mondays, it is market-day; and you may be detained in the street, without being able to pass through the crowd, for an hour or two.
From Rochdale to Manchester, 13 miles; a sad rough road of broken pavement.
Near Middleton, about half way from Rochdale to Manchester, on a hill to the left, is Sir Ashton Lever's, or rather what was his property.
To the right, nearer Manchester, is Lord Grey de Wilton's.
A mile short of Manchester, before the steep descent to the town, on the right, is Broughton, belonging to Colonel Cluese; the finest situation about Manchester.
My guide has already conducted travellers to Manchester; I therefore leave them to enjoy the inexhaustible fund of amusement their own reflections, on what they have seen and observed, must continually afford them.
Footnotes
1 ↑ "A gentleman, whose taste stands as high as any man's, observed and lamented the extent of Mr.———'s operations. Formerly, said he, improvers, at least, kept near the house, but this fellow crawls like a snail all over the grounds, and leaves his cursed slime behind him, where-ever he goes."—Vide a Note to Knight's Didactic Poem, called The Landscape.
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