Handbook to the Severn Valley Railway Part 7

Ligustrum vulgare (Privet) . . . Benthall Edge.

Erigeron acris . . . Benthall Edge.

Bee Orchis (Ophrys apifera) . . . Benthall Edge.

Pinguicula vulgaris (Common b.u.t.ter-wort) . . . Wrekin.

Vaccinium myrtillus (Bilberry) . . . Wrekin.

Danthonia dec.u.mbens . . . Wrekin.

Eriophorum angustifolium . . . Wrekin.

Isolepis setacea (Bristle-stalked Moor-rush) . . . Wrekin.

Myosotis collina (Early Field Scorpion gra.s.s) . . . Wrekin.

Polypodium dryopteris . . . Wrekin.

Amongst the ferns of the district may be mentioned--the Royal fern (_Osmunda regalis_), which has been found sparingly at Shirlett, in Willey Park, and in Dairley Dingle; the beautiful Beech fern (_Polypodium Phegopteris_), which grows in the greatest luxuriance in Dairley Dingle, also in a wood in Willey Park; and the Hay fern (_Lastrea faenisecii_), in Coalbrookdale, and upon Shirlett. Also several other commoner species, as _Lastrea Oreopteris, Lastrea spinosa, Lastrea dilatata_, and its variety _glandulosa, Lastrea filix mas_, and its variety _Borreri_; _Aspidium aculeatum_, and _Aspidium augulare_.

In giving the above list, I willingly acknowledge the a.s.sistance of my friends, Messrs. Baugh, Jordin, and Maw.

ADVERTIs.e.m.e.nTS.

The Severn Valley; A Series of Sketches. Descriptive and Pictorial, of the entire Course of the Severn, containing Notices of its Topographical, Industrial, and Geological Features, with Glances at its Historical and Legendary a.s.sociations. By JOHN RANDALL, F.G.S.

"This work will be an admirable guide-book for the tourist, and is so beautifully printed as to be worthy of a place on any drawing-room table, although the price is modestly fixed at 7_s_. 6_d_. only. Mr. Randall sketches landscapes with artistic taste, lingers here and there for anecdote, drops in at the wayside hostelry, and picks up pleasant chit- chat on angling and other subjects. He is evidently a lover of nature, and possesses a pleasing style of demonstrating his devotion in print."--_Worcester Herald_.

"Mr. Randall's style is pure and unaffected; it flows equably and cheerfully along as the river he so lovingly describes. To tourists this elegant and interesting book will prove an invaluable companion, and as such we cordially commend _it_."--_Eddowes's Journal_.

"This is a valuable addition to the story of literary information connected with this and neighbouring counties, and we doubt not the work will prove as popular as undoubtedly it is interesting."--_Worcestershire Chronicle_.

"The author has made judicious selection of the abundant materials presented, and draws a series of graphic and pleasing pictures of all the more noticeable features of the country which are to be found along the extensive and meandering course of the Severn."--_Gloucester Journal_.

"The book which has furnished our theme is perhaps the best account of the Severn and the Severn Valley in existence."--_Gloucester Chronicle_.

"Always easy and flowing, and sometimes approaching almost to the force of poetry in its simple elegance of expression, the legendary and historical a.s.sociations which belong to the scenery of the Severn blend naturally with the most glowing pictures of descriptive beauty, and there is never any appearance of labour or constraint."--_Shrewsbury Chronicle_.

"The ground--which to the great majority of tourists must be comparatively new--presents some of the finest scenery in the kingdom.

Its antiquities, its historical and legendary a.s.sociations, are full of interest; whilst to the student of nature, whether his special subject be geology or botany, it is no less rich and attractive. On all these subjects, as well as on the industrial features of the district, Mr.

Randall is at home."--_Shropshire News_.

"Mr. Randall is a good guide. He is thoroughly acquainted with his subject. He has long been familiar with the Severn Valley, and knows its geology, its traditions, its historic records, its myths, its poetry, and its loveliest scenes. On all these topics he dilates with the freshness which ever arises from deep love."--_Literary Companion_.

"An itinerary abounding with interesting material of a very varied kind, of which the author has availed himself to write a most agreeable guide- book."--_Art-Journal_.

"We can most conscientiously recommend it to our readers, for there is food for all tastes and temperaments in its ever-varying pages. For a day's out to any place on the Severn, we do not know a better guide."--_Birmingham Post_.

"The wood-cuts, though small, are artistically drawn and neatly engraved."--_Army and Navy Gazette_.

JAMES S. VIRTUE, AND ALL BOOKSELLERS.

Footnotes.

{6} Upon payment of one shilling.

{11} The geological features of the district are readily recognised. The great magazine of salt at Droitwich is sufficiently indicative of the red marls observed in the cutting at Shrub Hill, and which rise, by means of pa.s.sage shales, into the lias on one side, and descend, by means of other members of the New Red Sandstone, into the permians on the other.