Middletown transcript., 1869-01-30
0otrs of Traret.
Wrhtenfor The Middietoun Transcript
-
No. 2.

| RecOllectiOnS of the Mother Country.
No. 2.
Before leaving Liverpool we visited
some of the little villages adjoining that
city, in the county of Lancashire, which
were we'll worth seeing. In proceeding
eastwardly, toward West Derby, we pas
sed the Geological Gardens, which are
quite an attraction for the inhabitants in
that county, but seem diminutive in COM
parison with the Geological Gardens in
London, of which we shall speak by-and-by.
The township of Derby is chiefly the
property of the late Prime Minister, the
Earl of Derby, who derives his title from
its possession. The principal scat of the
Earl is called Knowsley Hail." and is
situated in a large and magnificent park.
Spoke Hall, about six or seven miles
from the scat of the Earl of Derby, is an
interesting treat to the lover of antiquity.
1t is among the best specimens of its class
that endure in England The composition
of it is wood and plaster, and was form
crly surrounded by moat in the days of
good Queen Bess. The great hall is very
lofty; fine oak wainscoting reaches from
the floor to the ceiling, which is of oak
also. The owner of it seldom resides at
the Hall, although it and the surrounding
grounds are well kept up. Visitors are
allowed to visit the Hall at any time with
the exception of Sunday, and the attend
ants very kindly answer all questions put
to them. The visitors should be careful
to hand the servants slight fee on leav-
ing, as that is always expected of every
sight-seer. We asked the servant in
charge Of the stables who was the owner
of this large and well-kept estate, and he
replied in the peculiar Welch-Anglico di-
alect, o." that it WAS owned by young
pench. !" A merchant of Liverpool in
formed us afterwards, that this young
rcnch was young lady of sixteen sum-
mcrs, blonde, and owning in her own
right $4,000 of real estate, or about
S2,500,000
For the benefit of your bachelor read
ers, we will state that she is the niece of
Richard Watt, Esq. of Bishop Burton
The beautiful and quiet village of Hale
easily reached by the Garston Railway.
Here was born, in 1853, John Middleton
Il giant, possessed of extraordinary
strength, and called the Z" Childo of Hale. !"
He was nine feet and three inches in
height, and his hand was seventeen inches
long. "The Childe of Hale Inn" which
is near the house which he inhabited, has
sign representing him in appearance and
dress; his tomb is close to the path on the
south side of the neighboring church.
yard.
Every pleasure seeker should by all
means visit the new and well arranged
Gymnasium, in Liverpool, of the Athletic
Club which has the reputation of being
the finest of it's kind in the United King
) dom or perhaps in any country. By all
means stop at the Adelphi Hotel, on
Lime street, as you get there the real
, English attention, which most of us have
heard and road good deal about in times
past. The Washington Hotel is patron
: lied quite extensively by Americans, but
, many of its guests become displcased with
the desire on the part of the management
, to please both the English and American
travellers. The American system of hotel
keeping is so Numerically opposite to the
English style, that any attempt to COM
bine them would prove failure. We
take it for granted that an American on
landing, desires at once, to become fami-
liar with English hostelry, and that is the
reason the hotel above is recommended.
1t is said that Lords, Fools, and Amer
leans, only travel in first class railway
carriages, while the sensible ride in the
second class compartments, and are as
easily and rapidly transported to their des-
tination. When we arrived at the Lime
street station, preparatory to the start for
Manchester, by the London and North
Western Railway, the different compart-
ments were scanned, and we quietly de-
cided to take the part of the " foolish
ones," and 60 in the luxurious first class
: compartment. For the benefit of those
: who have never travelled abroad, some
explanation is needed in regard to the cars,
or carriages as they are called there. =
These carriages are divided into two or
three compartments, and some of them
I have first and second class combined, so
that really both classes of passengers are
in the same car, being only separated by
partitions. Each compartment holds six
persons. In the course of our travel af-
forwards we tried the second class for a
novelty but never entered second time,
as the trife paid extra for the first class is
nothing when the comfort of the passenger
is taken into account. The common state
ment in regard to the character of the pas
sengers who travel in the first class is err
roneous, as most of the large land-holders,
merchants, and professional gentlemen of
England, travel only as Americans, with
plethoric purses, are in the habit of doing
| just as soon as the railway train starts
for Manchester, BIZ miles distant, it tenters
f an immense tunnel, bored out of solid red
} dish stone, II miles in length, having an
} inclined plane throughout its whole length.
Stationary engines draw the trains to
} Edgehill, at the farther end; those coming