The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1907-11-16
Correspondence Baltimore County Union.
LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

''BELGRAvIA,n 9 SALISBURY TERRACE,
WEsToN-sUPER-MARE.E ENGLAND,
November 4th, 1907.
Messrs. Editors ~ eston-super-Ma Mare. on the
Bristol Channel, with nothing between 1t and
New York, was until a few years ago small
fishing village. 1t is now large town, the CEN
tire for excursions to a number of interesting
places, chief among them the Mendip Hills. It
Is a winter as well as summer resort and its pop
ulation has increased by leaps and bounds. 1t
is sometimes called Weston-Super-Mud.f for
when the tide goes out it is mud as far as the
eye can reach. The ozone arriving from 1t Is
very beneficial for bronchitis, lung or throat
trouble, and catarrh is unknown. It's chief pride
is the Marine Parade with its two miles of sea-
wall. A 43 foot esplanade sweeps around the
bay, with numerous seats and shelters. called
kiosks. There are three beautifully laid-out
parks. One of the favorite walks is through the
woods. Between fifty and sixty years ago there
was only barren hill and the winter winds must
have been bleak indeed and Worle Hill anything
but picturesque. The then lord of the manor
did good service when he had the hill, nearly
400 acres, planted with trees. shrubs and flowers.
converting 1t into lovely spot, which today is
one of weston's chief attractions and thorough
ly enjoyed by the throngs of visitors.
The Mendip Hills are not far from Weston
Super Mare. A short ride by rail and few
miles drive in a wagonet bring you to the Gorge.
which is described by the late Dean Afford, in
his Letters from Abroad, as the grandest rocky
deflle he ever saw. They deserve an artists
loving study to give you pen picture Won
derful we say as we enter the Gorge and drive
between cliffs so high it makes one dizzy to try
and see their tops. and at every step the wonder
grows. They inspire feeling of awe and we sit
silent feasting our eyes on the changes in form
and color. castle and tower cathedral and spire.
and here and there in cliff and crevice trees
ferns, wild flowers and ivy find roofing place,
s0rtoniug uuu uuu1ug tUucn VI color to the
gray rocks. 1t was one of these that inspired
Toplady to write Rock of Ages" and wonder
full is the thought still in our minds when we
reach Cheddar and looking back see the Lion
Rock, so called from its resemblance to the form
of an immense lion crouching on the top.
Like most places 1t has its legend. The Saxon
King Edmond at first favored the holy Dunstan
and then listening to evil counselors deprived
him of his honors and dismissed him. One day
Edmond set out to hunt deer in his forest of
Mendip and stag and hounds plunged over the
precipice in Cheddar Gorge. The King was in
despair of refining in his horse, but IN answer to
apenitent prayer the animal stopped on the very
brink of the cliff. He then sent for Dunstan
and riding to Glastonbury appointed him Abbot
of the Monastery.
Cheddar, at present numbering less than 10000
population, was noted as far back as TIT for its
cheese, and for the past 70 years for its rnagnih
cent caves, but of far greater interest to of
us is its association with the memory of Hannah
More. It was of Cheddar she said, I'VE only saw
one Bible in the parish, and that was used to
prop flower pot" 1t was here she starred her
school and began her efforts to Christianize the
people of the Mendip Hills. The most Jealous
form of religion there today, we read. is the
Wesleyan Memorial Church, and she is the link
between the ancient types of religion and the
present. The prevailing sentiment in 1850 was
voiced by a rich farmer when she opened her
Sunday school and club. He assured his hearers
that religion would ruin agriculture; it was
very dangerous thing and had produced much
mischief ever since it was introduced by the
monks down in Glastonbury. Her benevolent
efforts were not confined to Cheddar. On the
east Of the valley is the Shutcli or as it is COM
monty called, Callow HILL and it was on Callow
Hill that she and her sister Pattie gave a school
treat in 1871 to 517 children. Cowslip Green and
Barley Wood, in which they successfully resided.
are situated. the former on hill overlooking
Wrington Valley, the latter in the valley near
Aldwick Court. and their remains lie in Wiring
ton churchyard. A full account of the labors of
Hannah and Pattie More are given in Rev.
Arthur Roberts "Mendip Annals" With the
taking away of the paper and shirt factories
came the question of how these people were to
live, until about fifteen years ago one returning
from America discovered the soil and climate
were suitable for strawberry culture, and now
every cottager, no matter how small his piece
of land, grows strawberries, which are shipped
to the large cities-Glasgow, London. Manches-
ter, etc. EMILIA MATHER.