Arthur Freeling

“ A large market for cattle is also held four times a year. The chapel is a handsome and commodious structure, erected in 1788, and is remarkable for its tower, which is 100 feet in height. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry of Stafford and diocese of Lichfield and Coventry, endowed with £1,100 private benefaction, £1,000 by the Crown, and £200 by a parliamentary grant; patrons, the trustees. There are also places of worship for various denominations of Dissenters, a Roman Catholic chapel; and a National School, supported by subscription, in which 500 children are educated. ”

“ A slight sketch of the various applications to Parliament for power to complete the Grand Junction portion of the line will, however, not be uninteresting, especially as it exhibits the difficulties which invariably attend the promotion of a public good, when opposed to private interest. It is too often to be regretted, that the chief opposition to the efforts of those public-spirited individuals who originate such works, arises from persons whose real interests are not affected, but whose temper or caprice raise up a host of evils which exist only in their perverted imaginations. ”

“ Birmingham has a Philosophical Society, situated in Cannon-street; a Royal Medical School, in Paradise-street; a Horticultural Society, in the Gardens of which are extensive conservatories and hot-houses, situated in the parish of Edgbaston.
A Society of Arts, situated in New-street, and one of the handsomest architectural specimens which the town affords. It has a splendid portico of the Corinthian order. This institution has been of great advantage to the town.
A Mechanics' Institution—but, strange to say, in this town of mechanics, it has not a building specially devoted to its objects. ”

“ For the information of our sporting readers, we have added a List of Races (and, as near as we could obtain them, of the time of their coming off) , to the vicinity of which access may be obtained by the Railroad. Some few of them are at a considerable distance from the Stations; but all, we believe, may be attained in a day.
List of Races, and the time at which they are held, to which easy access may be obtained, by means of the Grand Junction and Liverpool and Manchester Railways. ”

“ This barbarism no man will allow to be perpetrated in his grounds, while he has the power of prevention; thus the man of taste is excluded by the rudeness of these Vandals. The manufacture of nails, chains, chain-cables, every description of hardware, and glass, form the staple trade of the town. ”

“ Manchester is situated at the confluence of the rivers Irk and Irwell, in the County of Lancaster, the Hundred of Salford, and Diocese of Chester. It is 18 miles from Warrington, 186 from London, and about 33 from Liverpool. It is the principal seat of the Cotton Manufactories, and is fast adding the Silk to its already extensive trade; with its suburbs, including Salford, it contains 226,931 inhabitants. ”

“ Any delay in the arrival of a Mail occasions a corresponding delay in the delivery. We shall now take a hasty sketch of the Town, its Public Buildings, Offices, and Institutions. Those devoted to the relief of human sorrow and suffering, are very considerable, not only in the extent of their means but in their number. The fine arts are highly cultivated in this town, the importance of a school of design, and the cultivation of a correct taste, being well appreciated-indeed being essential to the prosecution of the extensive and elegant manufactures for which it is so deservedly celebrated. ”

“ For an account of Manchester. Liverpool, and Birmingham, see end of book.
We shall now return to the Newton Junction Station, where we left our readers some minutes since; and here we must inform them that the mile-posts (from which we shall direct their attention to various objects) are on their right hand, as they proceed to Birmingham, and that, although the Grand Junction Line in fact commences here, the posts are numbered from Liverpool, or, if they are not yet, they shortly will be: eventually there will also be posts on the other side, numbering from Birmingham. ”

“ Lichfield is a city and county of itself, with separate jurisdiction, but within the northern division of the hundred of Offlow, county Stafford, pleasantly situated in the midst of a fertile valley, and surrounded by gently swelling hills, on the banks of a stream which falls into the Trent. Pop. 6,499. It is principally dependent on its local trade. Its neighbourhood, however, produces abundance of vegetables, with which it supplies the populous district which surrounds it. Its breed of cattle is also of a very superior kind, and is in great demand. ”

“ The town is second only to London in commercial importance, wealth, and foreign trade. As it is therefore so essentially commercial, we shall commenee our Guide to the town by recording the necessary information respecting the Post Office.
LIVERPOOL POST-OFFICE.
Delivery of Letters.—The First Delivery commences at 8 a.m., and the Office continues open till the arrival of the London Mail, (per Grand Junction Railway,) about 11 40 a.m. The letters comprised in this delivery are those of the over-night Birmingham Mail (with a bag from Manchester and a Foreign bag from London) ”

“ Jennens and Bettridge's Establishment exhibits another department in the arts, for which Birmingham is now celebrious. A Birmingham man and a Birmingham blacksmith were once almost synonymous terms; now the most delicate efforts of art are exhibited as the produce of this universal manufactory. In the above establishment may be seen every variety of article in which the papier mache is capable of being produced: elegant tea-traps, ladies' work-boxes, and cabinets are exhibited in endless variety and beauty. ”

“ The Markets
of Manchester are not so remarkable as those of Liverpool. The principal ones are, the New Market, in Brown1-street; the Fish Market, in Market- place; and the Town-Hall and Market, in Salford, all of which are exceedingly well supplied. ”

“ The town is situated on a rising ground, in the centre of a district abounding with rich mines of coal, firestone, clay; with numerous steam-engines, forges, furnaces, &c., which give it the appearance of a vast forge by day, and a perfect pandemonium by night. With such a basis for its trade, the reader will not wonder at the population. Its extensive water carriage affords every facility of transport, which advantage the enterprising proprietors of the various works avail themselves of to the utmost extent. ”

“ If we except Liverpool, perhaps no place has within the last few years improved its trading and commercial relations to such an extent as this town. As a manufacturing place it is unrivalled; but to enumerate its various productions would be impossible in this sketch, suffice it to say, that every thing which can be produced from iron, brass, copper, silver, and the various combinations of which these metals are susceptible, may be here obtained. ”

“ In 1831 preparations for applying to Parliament were again made; but the fate of previous attempts, and the opposition threatened, caused the Committee and subscribers to defer further proceedings that year.
In 1832 a meeting was held in Liverpool, John Moss, Esq., in the chair, when it was determined that one bill only, and that from Birmingham to Warrington, from which place there was a Railroad to Liverpool and Manchester, should be applied for; that the shareholders in the two concerns should be invited to unite in one, and the management be transferred to Liverpool. ”

“ There is nothing that can excite the inquiry of the traveller until we arrive at
341⁄4 63
the 63rd mile post, when the river Sow is again seen approaching the railroad, and, by its quiet, silvery, slow meandering, contrasted with the rapidity of the carriages, forcibly reminds us of the singular change which a few years have made in our powers of migration. In the landscape, however, a railroad is not so pleasing an object as the stream ”

“ The public amusements in this town are not on a very extensive scale, nor indeed are they much patronised. The Theatre is a handsome erection, situated in New-street, opposite the Post-office. Vauxhal Gardens are at Vauxhall, near the Birmingham and Liverpool Railway Station, and are open in the summer months. ”

“ The Vale Royal Embankment, which is about 150 yards long and 60 feet high, here meets the Viaduct midway in the valley. This bridge bas 5 arches, each 63 feet span, and carries the Railroad across Vale Royal, at an elevation of near 70 feet from the water in the river Weaver, which flows beneath. The village of Moilton may be distinguished to the left, by the spire of its church; and to the westward may be seen the chimnies of Vale Royal Abbey, the seat of Lord Delamere. There is nothing remarkable in the appearance of the present mansion ”

“ Collis and Co.'s Establishment must be visited by every one who intends to have an idea of the state of the manufactures in Birmingham. It is situated in Church-street, adjoining St. Phillip's church-yard. The proprietors, with the greatest liberality, have appointed servants to attend visitors through the workshops and warehouse-rooms. In the former the stranger will see the various processes which are necessary to bring the crude metal to the forms of singular beauty and elegance with which the ware-rooms abound. ”

“ Birmingham is a market town, and a borough by the Reform Bill, in the Hundred of Hemlingford, situated upon a hill near the river Rea, in the county of Warwick, 109 miles from London, 971⁄4 from Liverpool. ”