UNIVERSITY OF CA RIVERSIDE, LIBRARY 3 1210 01970 5027 INDEX MAP SHEWING THE SECTION MAPS IN THE GUIDE .TabuBjgDioiamerT A Co-.-Tidic* THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN J . CYCLING ROUTES. Opp. Pink Page 7. CYCLING DISTANCES OF CHIEF TOWNS ON ACCOMPANYING MAP FROM PLACES OF ACCESS. Ash- Derby. Buxton. bourne. Miles. Miles. Miles. London, by St Albans 125 138 163 ,, Bedford .. 130 143 168 Bath 128 143 166 Bedford 92 117 Birmingham 40 55 75 Bradford 80 "0 50 Bristol 12:. 140 163 Cambridge 109 134 Cheltenham 101 124 Coventry 56 81 Don caster 66 48 Hereford (via Worcester) 104 129 Huddersfield 58 38 Hull 107 97 Gloucester 106 129 Grantham 54 79 Leamington 91 Leeds 54 Leicester 66 Liverpool 61 Lynn (Peterborough and J KlutfnQ 137 \ Leicester) . \ Manchester 63 45 25 Northampton 60 73 98 Norwich (Peterborough) 153 166 191 Nottingham 16 29 46 Oxford 92 105 130 Peterborough 75 113 Shrewsbury (Stafford) 62| 76J Stafford 32 39 Worcester 65 88 York (Doncaster) 86 81 NOTES. Little to choose ; both good. By St Albans the more interesting. Very interesting. Hilly south of Broadway very quaint village (" Lygon Arms"). Good. Do. (Joins 3 at Warwick). Very fair. (Joins 1 at Uttoxeter). See p. 18, Very hilly ; enters Peak at Clossop or Penistone Hilly. Good and level. (Joins 11 at Doncaster). Mostly' level ; dull, good roads. ' 5. do. Do. do. Do. (Hurling anb 4¥lotcring. Cycling and Motoring i From London ii From Birmingham iv Through the District vi It is hardly necessary to remind tourists that the Peak is a specially hilly country ; further, that most of the roads cross the hills from valley to valley rather than follow the course of any particular one. The great exception to this rule is the main road from Derby to Matlock, Bakewell, Castleton, and Ashopton, which hugs the Derwent all the way to Ashopton ; its tributaries, the Noe, etc., from Mytham Bridge to Castleton, and the Ashop, another tributary, from Ashopton to the Snake Inn. This route is best taken the reverse way—tackling the long, steep ascent from Glossop [p. 149) at once. The road from Rowsley to Buxton keeps company with the Wye as far as that coyest and most erratic of streams will permit—which is not saying much. On all sides except the south the inner part of the district is hemmed in by hills from 1,000 to 1,800 feet above the sea. The following are the chief roads of access :— Ft. Manchester to Buxton (1000 ft.), summit-level, Macclesfield „ „ „ Leek „ „ Glossop „ Ashopton (600 ft.) Sheffield „ „ „ „ Hathersage (500 ft.) „ „ Baslow (400) by Froggatt Edge „ „ direct, summit-level, Chesterfield " Roii'sley (300 ft.) „ „ Barley Bale (280 ft.) „ Matlock (250 ft.) The general quality of the Derbyshire main roads is very good, except that in very dry weather or after any considerable rainfall those that are metalled with limestone are apt to be very dusty or very sticky—powder or mortar. This is particularly the case on the high ground between Buxton, Ashbourne, Bakewell, Baslow, and Hope, which is a limestone country throughout. We append a few notes on the approaches for motorists and cyclists from 1 iondon, Birmingham, etc. Our Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Cheshire friends are too familiar with the runs to need any information beyond that given in the body of the book and on the little map opposite. Peak.- Pink Inset. ) : ii CYCLING AND MOTOKING. From LONDON. Main Route:— To Barnet (idd Salisbury'), 12 m.; St. Albans {Otorgt Dear's Temp), 21ij Dunstable (Old SugarloafXBi; Moekelifle (Whit, : Newport Pagnell (nocyclist house), White Bart ), :>8 ; woburn (Bedford Arms >,42| (Angel, Peacock it. Midland, Dodd's Tempi), 86 ; i'.rixworth, 51 : Northampton 72J; Market Harborough (Bind, Cherry Tree, Victoria Temp.), Sty; Kibworth (Coach & 1,89; Leicester (Bell, George, White Bart, eto.), 98. ; Quorndon, {Station), 109; Keg-worth (Flying Horse), 115; IK'i-b.v /;.//, Temp.). i County, Berkeley («") Itoail Variation* : — London (Marble Arch"), by Fdgware to Edgware /;,iiin;iii). Si Elstree, ; and St. Albans (at>ove}i Thi- is a ( m.; 11£ 19J. pleasauter way out of London, though somewhat more hilly than the main one from the Mansion House. (b) Hoekoliffe (above) by Fenny Stratford (Swan), 7J m.. Stony Strat- further than the ford, 15, and Boade, 23J, to Niirtlianipton, 29. One mile main route, and hardly so interesting. Branches from Holyhead road just beyond Stratford, (c)~ KTortliainptoii by Husbands Bosworth (Bell), 171 „,„ im ,i Wigston, villages on the way. 27£. to Leicester (above j, 314. Nothing more than small More picturesque than main route, but not so good in latter part. ; Royal,Queen'i ,l i field (8 m.\ inn) and Ashby-de-la-Zouch(18 i Leicester by Mark ; ; and Partridge i Trent ( : Queen's Tutbury (31 Bog J read ) to Bnrton-on 26$ Hart) ; : inns'), and Asbbourne Sudbury, 35 ; TJttoxeter (40 ; White Rocester (45 (52; White Lion). Another pleasant variation from Leicester is by one of the routes through Charnwood Forest. Those who start from London (Mansion House) by the old north route will probably do well to take train to Finchley (7 m.) or High Barnet (9), both on the G.N. line. This route joins the Edgware route (Variation a) at St. Albans. As far as surface and hills go, there is little to be said about any of the routes till Derby is reached. There is not very much of special interest on any of these routes after St. Albans is passed, the roads being good and fairly level throughout, and the scenery of the ordinary midland counties type. St. Albans is within comfortable reach of London by rail (19J m. from St. Pancras; 24 from Euston. 3rd el., Is. Ihd.; cycle, (W.). Its importance dates from the Roman period, when, under the name of Yerulaniiiun, it was the most im- portant town in South Britain. It was on the great road northward through the midland counties—Watling Street—and derives its name from St. Alban, a Boman soldier, the first Christian martyr in Britain, executed here A.D. 304. Only a fragmentary wall and a fosse remain to indicate the site of the old town, which lile off to the west. In the reign of Claudius, Boadieea surprised it and put j- of its inhabitants to the sword. Milton calls it Jugera Cassibelauni ivelaunus"). To the tourist nowadays its one object of interest is its glorious Abbey, which was made a cathedral in 1877- It is one of the" ' and finest buildings of its period—the longest (540 ft.) of our cathedrals except Winchester, which beats it by 20 feet. The is cruciform, and it has a fine Norman tower nearly 150 feet high. The various pari- date from the 11th century (nave and tower) to the 14th, when the Lady Chapel was added. The choir belongs to the 13th. il The church, with its enormous nave, severely Norman. pinnacled transept, graceful choir, lofty square tower, and grand, ornate, rich interior, is an imposing object inferior to no minster in the kingdom.'' Eecently a new E.E. west facade and several large windows have been given by Lord Grimthorpe at a cost of more Peak.—Pink Inset. — —;; CYCLING AND MOTORING. iii than £100,000. The interior has been carefully restored. It boasts the longest Gothic nave in the world, with E.E. and Dec. details. The stained glass (N. aisle) is the work of the 15th century ; the painted ceiling of the choir of the 14th, of the chancel of the 15th. Note also the mediaeval screen behind the altar, restored ; the chapels and chantries ; the tomb of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester the shrine of St. Alban, the Lady Chapel, and the very fine brass of Abbot of De la Mare. The only remains of the 4'onveiitual JCni Itlings is the Perp. Gate, which stands W. of the church, and is now a school. St. >Ii<-lia«'l"s C'lmreli, § mile W. of the Abbey on our road to Dunstable, and within the walls of Verulam, contains an alabaster monument, by Rysbrack. to Sir Francis Bacon; « Qui. postquam omnia naturalis sapiential ct civilis arcana ''. evolvisset ( cvolverat), Naturae decreturn explevit." The highest point on our whole route (554 ft.) is \\ miles short of Dunstable (once Dunstaple), " a British settlement prior to the Roman invasion, and situated at the intersection of Watling Street and the Icknield Way. It was overrun by the Danes, and rebuilt by Henry I., who erected for himself a mansion and founded the Priory Church, a fine Norman building, recently restored. In it the divorce between Henry VIII. and Catherine of Arragon was pronounced in 1533 by Cranmer. Among other illustrious visitors were King John, Louis the Dauphin with the rebel barons in 1217, Henry III., Edward III., Henry IV., Elizabeth, and Charles I., who put up at the Red Lion on his way to the fateful field of Naseby. The town is mainly occupied in straw-plaiting. At Hockcliffe (326 ft.), where the Whitt Horse dates from 1566 and has many details of great interest, it is best, as before stated, to leave the main Holyhead road and proceed by Woburn Park to Newport Pagnell. Woburn Abbey (Duke of Bedford) lies a mile to the right of the road. It has a fine collection of pictures (shown on Fridays, 10 to 4, by order obtained at the Park Farm Office). Beyond Woburn there is little of interest to call for a halt till one reaches the busy and at the same time ancient town of Northampton, 1^ miles short of which is one of the three remaining Eleanor's Crosses, erected here and at every other resting-place of his wife's body on its way to interment at Westminster by Edward I.