lock Bath. General Character of the Scenery of the Dale. Walk to Stonnis; - View from thence. Evening Scene from Masson. - Morning in Matlock Dale. - Heights of Abraham. Museum. Inns and Lodging Houses. - We were now nearly three miles from Matlock Bridge, and WE as the sun declined, we had a pleasant walk down Darley Dale. The shadows gradually became broader, and the scenery improved, as evening advanced. In our way to Matlock, we passed on our right the shaft of a lead mine, which was discovered a few years ago, when the new road to Bakewell was made. This mine has been the subject of much litigation, and it is highly probable that more money has been expended upon it than the concern will produce for many years. On examining the ore, I found it accompanied with more than an usual quantity of martial pyrites, many beautiful specimens of which may be found in the fences by the road-side. Remarking to one of the workmen that pyrites appeared to be very abundant in this mine, he very earnestly wished it was less so; for, added he, "if the lead ore do not eat out the pyrites, the pyrites will soon eat out the lead ore." The miner's mode of expression brought forcibly to my recollection a remark that I had many years before heard made in a sermon on the utility of prayer, by the celebrated Rowland Hill, when preaching in a theatre on a stage publicly devoted to profane purposes.—“If," said the reverend preacher, "praying do not make you give over sinning, sinning will soon make you give over praying." Though we had not much leisure for botanizing during our evening walk, yet the luxuriant growth of the plants and flowers amongst the rocks on the left of the road attracted our attention. The mallow, the wild marjoram, the yarrow, and particularly the meadow geranium, were more beautiful APPROACH TO MATLOCK BRIDGE. 247 here than I recollect to have seen them in any other situation; and our steps were delayed in gathering them, until the sun, sinking behind the huge hill of Masson, left the whole valley in shade, while Riber Top alone was suffused with splendour. As we approached Matlock Bridge, a view replete with beauty lay before us. The river, the bridge, the rocky scenery behind, the tower of the church rising gracefully over the trees, and the rugged bank on our left, formed an assemblage of objects strikingly picturesque. We were now within a mile and a half of Matlock Bath, a place which has been long and deservedly celebrated for the beauty of its scenery, and the salutary influence of its waters; but as it was our intention to explore the vicinity of the village before we passed through the dale, we took up our lodgings at an inn near the bridge, and spent the remaining part of the evening in recalling to recollection the incidents of the day. The following morning we rambled through the village, and along the road leading to Alfreton and Mansfield, leaving Riber on our right. About a mile from Matlock, a romantic glen on our left attracted our notice, and a rapid descent led us into its deepest recesses: it is covered with wood, and watered by a brilliant stream, that, leaping from one rocky fragment to another, plays and sparkles amongst the closelyinterwoven branches of the trees that overshadow its descent. From this glen we soon emerged; and, passing the corner of a mill at its upper extremity, we came suddenly upon a natural cascade, to which Bray has given a particular direction in his "Sketch of a Tour into Derbyshire;" and he describes the scene here presented as "fit for the pencil of a Salvator Rosa." When he beheld it, it had a wilder and more savage character than it now possesses: no artificial object was then obtruded on the eye, excepting the old mill at the top of the rock, and even that was in a state of ruin, which happily harmonized with every thing around it. The wild scene with which Bray was so enamoured, is now an uninteresting combination of rocks and houses, mills, wheels, and waterfalls. Fern, foxglove, heath, and a little underwood, cover the lower part of the right bank of this singular dell. The fall of water includes the whole of the little river Lums; and when it is swollen with rain, the river rushes over the top of the rock through a narrow cleft in a contracted stream: interrupted in its fall by craggy projections, it is dashed into 248 ENTRANCE INTO MATLOCK Dale. foam, and fills the midway air with a shower of watery particles; through these the rays of a bright sun sometimes play beauteously, throwing a transparent bow of many colours on the adjacent rocks. The water falls about eighty feet. The river Lums, however, is in general but a penurious stream, which is dammed up a little above the cascade, and let out sparingly for the use of the mills; hence it is but rarely a good subject for the pencil. At the mills near there is a manufacture of oxygenated muriatic acid, where from three to four tons of linen yarn are bleached weekly. From this place we returned through some fields to Matlock Bank, where we observed a venerable lime-tree, that gives a name to the place where it stands. The trunk of the tree is decayed within, but the branches, which are healthy and vigorous, ramify to a great distance, and cover an area of considerable extent. This old tree appears to be renovating in every part, and flourishing with new life. In some writings now in existence, which are six hundred years old, and in possession of a gentleman who resides at Doncaster, this tree is particularly mentioned and its site pointed out. From Matlock Bank many pleasing views are presented, in which the church, most romantically situated amongst groups of trees on the verge of a rock, is a beautiful feature. The undulation of the limestone strata from Church Rock to Pig For, at the entrance into Matlock Dale, is extremely curious, and highly worthy the observation of geologists. Having crossed the Derwent at Matlock Bridge, we entered the dale that leads to the baths. Near the Boat House, the first grand burst of the fine scenery of Matlock Dale is presented. A morning light is peculiarly favourable to this view. I once saw it about half an hour after sunrise, and the impression it then made is still fresh in my recollection. The rich foliage that crests the high crags on the left of the Derwent, leads the eye into a beautiful meadow; beyond, the line of rock gradually ascends from a comparatively low elevation to the topmost peak of the High Tor. This stupendous cliff was lighted up with the bright sunny gleams of an autumnal morning, to which the mass of wood, and the deep silent stream that lay enveloped in dark shadow in the dale below, formed an imposing contrast. Nearer us, a ray of light crept through the branches of the trees, and, playing amongst a group of cattle on the left margin of the river, gave a brilliant effect to the foreground. On the right, high above the Tor, towered the sublime hill of Masson; the shadow of the Tor was spread over its base, and the slant rays of the morning sun illuminated its ample breast; whilst, far above, the dense clouds of night hung upon its summit, where the very heavens seemed to rest. A picture of greater grandeur is but rarely seen in Matlock Dale. - Winding along the valley round the base of the High Tor, and turning a rocky projection on the right, the inns about Matlock Baths, the museum, and the lodging-houses, burst instantaneously upon the sight. A more extraordinary, and, to a stranger, a more unexpected and fascinating scene, but seldom occurs. At the time we beheld it, it was a vision of enchantment- a prospect into the fairy regions of romance where all that can delight the mind and excite admiration, seemed to be assembled together. The stream, as it slowly swept round the wooded hill in the front of the museum, sparkled with the vivid reflections of the white houses and the lofty trees that here adorn its banks: carriages rolling along the road, and well-dressed ladies and gentlemen perambulating the dale in various groups, gave animation to this extraordinary scene. We paused instinctively before we proceeded onward, as if we feared to dissolve the charm, by obtruding ourselves upon it. it. The unexpected novelty of the scene produced sensations of delight; but the hotels, and all the elegant accommodations of Matlock Bath, were soon lost in the contemplation of the hills, rocks, and woods, with which they are surrounded. The objects that at first had both surprised and pleased us now seemed strangely out of place, and we imagined that this romantic dale would have produced a grander and a more imposing effect in a wild and savage state, than thus studded with gardens, lodging-houses, and hotels. Matlock Dale, from the northern extremity to Scarthing Rock, where it may be said to terminate, is about two miles; and perhaps a greater portion of magnificent scenery can hardly any where be found in the same space. The High Tor is a grand object from whatever point of view it is beheld; and the Derwent, as it flows round its base, is a busy sparkling stream, and its banks are every where fringed with trees of the most luxuriant growth. A foot-path, carried along the margin of the river, from Scarthing Rock to Matlock Bridge, would form one of the most delightful walks in the kingdom. At present there is only a carriage-road, which in wet weather is intolerable for foot passengers, and in a dry summer un 250 THE HIGH TOR. WILD CAT TOR. comfortably dusty. A gravel-walk of very limited dimensions in the front of the principal inns, and about one hundred yards before the museum, are the only accommodations for pedestrian parties at Matlock Bath, unless they are disposed to ascend the heights of Abraham, and here they are soon interrupted by a demand for sixpence each person, a tax which must be submitted to every time the walk is taken, or all farther progress is forbidden. Every bit of ground here seems convertible into money; there is no moving, even on foot in some directions, without an impost. The walk to the heights of Abraham, and to the romantic rocks, are alike objects of taxation; and the imposition is only to be avoided by declining the gratification these places may afford. The heights of Masson may be otherwise attained, and the romantic rocks, as they are called, are scarcely worth a visit. In St. James's or Hyde Park they might be attractive, perhaps wonderful; but in Matlock Dale they really are objects too trifling to claim attention; yet strangers forsooth must be taxed in their purse before they can visit them. There is something extremely ludicrous in the idea of locking up rocks, barring them from public observation with a paling of six feet high, and exhibiting them for "sixpence a-piece," like a showman at a fair, as objects of wonder and astonishment. This is almost as inane a contrivance as putting a man into a quart bottle. After this one would not be much surprised if the good folks at Matlock Bath were to place a door in some part of the dale to admit people to see the High Tor, and this they probably would not hesitate to do, if they could profit by it. No part of Matlock Dale is equal in grandeur to the High Tor, yet it every where abounds in picturesque beauty. The wood-crowned eminence in front of the museum parade is a fine object, and the view from thence down the river includes one of the best pictures in the dale; the parts are few and well combined. Nearly opposite Saxton's Hotel, a broken rock, fringed with light foliage, rises majestically out of a group of trees that adorns its base: its topmost pinnacle is denominated Wild Cat Tor, and from its craggy summit a noble landscape is displayed. Proceeding onwards towards Willersley Castle, the residence of R. Arkwright, Esq. a cotton-mill obtrudes upon the scene. - What has such an object to do in such a place? - Its presence here, amidst some of the finest scenery of nature, is only calculated to disturb that delightful |