Drake's Road Book of the Grand Junction Railway

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uctors, &c.; the amazement depicted on some of the faces of the lookers-on; the state of "intellectual complication" evinced by others, especially those who, having various items of property to convey with them, are tremblingly solicitous for the welfare of sundry "red-striped carpet bags, trunks with wrappering over," bandboxes which will be ruined by a drop of rain, and fish-baskets which have a mortal antipathy to be squeezed. Other important-looking passengers make up their minds to take things as a matter of course, and not betray any vulgar surpri

pes for conveyance to Birmingham, are perhaps the grandest and most perfect of their kind ever fabricated. Yardley Village and Perry Barr form the distant view. The railroad now passes over the Aston embankment, and a viaduct of ten arches, beneath which runs the high road to Sutton, and the Fazeley Canal. From this point the last view is gained of the town of Birmingham, on the W.; and on the E. a prospect of Gravelly Hill, now nearly levelled, and the village of Erdington. A short distance onwards the line passes th

ing through his park, which the Company intended it to do; and in consequence of this opposition a great curve appears i

y musical bells, the sweet tones of which will scarcely reach the ears of railroad travellers. Part of the village of Aston is observable fro

ay be abruptly interrupted in a quiet meditation by the rapid rushing by of a "Centaur" or "Alecto," with its lengthened tail of many ponderous joints; and one accident, very singular, if true, occurred lately. A certain luckless individual of the pig family, having too far indulged an imprudent spirit of investigation on the Bilston portion of the line, had his curly conclusion very summarily amputated by a passing train:-he turned round briskly to ascertain the extent of his calamity, when another train, whirling along in an opposite direction, coming in contact with his head, put a period to the enterprising animal's existence by an instant decapitation. We might draw a wise and serious moral from this "cutting" event, but the fact presents a sufficient warning to all persons inclined to incur the penalty of two pounds in sterling coin, and limbs ad li

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scenery skirts the road for some distance, and about a mile from the last bridge, a view is gained of Perry Hall, seat of J. Gough, Esq., nearly encompassed by a grove of oak trees. At Hampstead Bridge, the old Walsall road crosses the line; and on either side the prospect is pleasantly varied by wood and water. Hampst

Road

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tuated here, which supply the chief part of Birmingham, Wednesbury, Dudley, Bilston, Darlaston, and other places with gas; the main tube

ll, appears W. of the line, Ray Hall and Burslem, or Bustleholm Mill, on the E. Before passing Tame Bridge, Barr Beacon again appears, heading the distant view. Friar Park

pendous cavern-quarries, canals, and labyrinthine excavations, extend under the Castle Hill. The limestone is remarkably rich in fossil treasures; trilobites, or, as they are vulgarly called, "Dudley locusts," have been found here in great v

y, and tend greatly to darken the complexion of both houses and inhabitants; the workers of the black diamond hereabout being a marvellously murky fraternity. Various manuf

sly on the summit and acclivities of a limestone rock, which is crowned by the church, the lofty spire of which forms a fine

Bridge

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us iron and steel goods. The whole district is abundantly traversed by canals, tram-roads, &c., for the convenient conveyance of merchandise, and presents to the passing traveller less subject for praise in point of beauty, than for admiration and surprise, at the closely-placed engines, mills, coal-pits, iron-mines, and factories, which greet him on all sides, with hissing, curling volumes of white steam, or thick massy clouds of rolling smoke. Should the traveller journey through this strange neighbourhood by night, the

tic rock, which, at the time of its elevation, upheaved and broke through the coal s

ngham is called Rowley rag, because the village of Rowley is situated on one of these basalt hills; and this hill appears to the eye to be the highest of the whole range. These hills are all covered with soil; but quarries have been opened in many of them, and the basalt of which they are composed is employed for mending the roads. The streets of Birmingham are likewise paved with it. The columnar structure,

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t battle fought near it in 311. The village began to flourish in the reign of Elizabeth, when the iron manufacture was first established

med by the excavation through the outcropping beds of coal, which in this part rise at a great angle towards the surface, and are worked in the neighbourhood by open cuttings. The

ages passing rapidly under, is novel and grand, nor less so the appearance

AMPTON

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ected of being "no canny." Divers kinds of vehicles, from post-chaises and landaus, to caravans and omnibii (as a refined friend of ours pluralizes these un

Hampton, of which its present name is evidently a corruption. The College continued till the year 1200, when Petrus Blesensis, who was then dean, after fruitless attempts to reform the dissolute lives of the brethren, surrendered the establishment to Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, and it was

t of a commodious building, in which, assemblies and concerts are likewise held. A Literary and Philosophical Society is established, but not yet supported in a manner at all proportioned to its merits; a circumstance not reflecting much honour on the professedly intelligent and "higher" classes of the inhabitants. The Mechanics' Institution is in a more flourishing condition, for obvious reasons, being patronized by the more knowledge-loving part of the community. The Theatre is opened occasionally; it is a

entire block, an ancient font, and several interesting monuments. In the church-yard is a column, twenty feet high, greatly enriched with sculpture of various designs, supposed to be of either Saxon or Danish origin. There are several other churches in Wolverhamp