The swelling heights were brown and
bare, like those of Tweeddale; and there the blackcock may still, I
believe, be found. The slopes are purely pastoral, with small
farm-steadings scattered over them. But down in the bottom of the
dale, we see the heavy stone-and-lime mill starting up from the bare
landscape, with a sprawling village of mean cottages surrounding it,
giving token of an industrial life totally opposite to that which is
found beside the silver streams of the Tweed and its tributaries. When
we passed near any of these spots, we were sure to catch the unlovely
details, so frequently, though so unnecessarily attendant on
factory-life--the paltry house, the unpaved, unscavengered street, the
fry of dirty children. It was a beautiful tract of natural scenery in
the process of being degraded by contact with man and his works.
Arriving at Holmfirth at one o'clock, we found it to be a somewhat
better kind of village, chiefly composed of one or two irregular
streets running along the bottom of a narrow valley. Hitherto, in
passing up the lower part of the vale, we had looked in vain for any
traces of the inundation; but now we suddenly found ourselves in the
midst of ruin and devastation. Holmfirth is only two miles and a half
from the reservoir, and being at a contracted part of the valley, the
water came upon it in great depth and with great force.
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