The most important and busy line of turnpike road passed from south to north, entering our district at Harewood bridge, passing by way of Spacey houses and Harrogate, to Killinghall bridge, thence to Ripley. Along this road rumbled the stage waggons and rattled the stage coaches,* producing a state of things such as made Byron exclaim—

"What a delightful thing's a turnpike road!

So smooth, so level, such a mode of shaving
The earth, as scarce the eagle in the broad

Air can accomplish, with his wide wings waving.
Had such been cut in Phæton's time, the god
Had told his son to satisfy his craving

With the York mail."

In the summer of 1843, the Royal Mail and fourteen other coaches, either passed through, or to and from Harrogate daily; but the steam revolution was at hand, which was destined to drive them from the roads, and supply their places with ponderous giants of iron and brass, and whose food is fire and water.

The next great step in locomotion was from Turnpike roads to Railroads; level lines were indispensible, and we at once

Hargrove, in his History of Knaresborough, 2nd Ed., 1775, says"The fly from Carlisle to London goes and returns through Harrogate twice a week, takes in passengers at the White Hart, in Low Harrogate. A waggon from London to Newcastle goes through Knaresborough on Tuesdays, and a waggon from Newcastle to London goes through Knaresborough on Thursdays; takes in goods at the Blue Bell, in High street.

A waggon comes from Leeds to Harrogate and Knaresborough, and returns the same day.

The Fish Machines from Stockton to Leeds, pass through Knaresbro' and Harrogate every Wednesday, and return on Fridays."

In 1822, writes Edward Baines, in his Directory of the county of York of that date-"Besides a great number of post carriages, three stage coaches pass through the place daily; the Telegraph, between Leeds and Newcastle; the Union and the Tally-ho, between Leeds and Ripon. A coach also comes from York on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and returns the same days."

At the present time (1868) upwards of seventy trains arrive at and depart from the Harrogate station daily.

behold a series of tunnels and deep cuttings diving through the hills, and lofty viaducts bestriding the valleys with their multitudinous arches. The first iron railway which invaded our district was the Harrogate and Church Fenton, a branch of the North Midland Company, which was completed and opened in 1848. After passing through a short tunnel under Follifoot Rigg, it enters the Forest of Knaresborough by a stupendous viaduct of thirty arches, each of fifty-two feet span; the centre being one hundred and thirty feet above the waters of the brook Crimple, The piers are of rustic stone, in large blocks; the arches are turned in brickwork, faced with hewn stone. The length of this magnificent piece of work is 1,850 feet. Although apparently slender, when viewed at a distance, it is really a massive and substantial work. This railway terminated in a station near the Brunswick hotel (now the Prince of Wales), Harrogate, and gave access to London and the south of England.

The Leeds and Thirsk railway was the next line finished; indeed it was in progress during the formation of the last mentioned. It enters our district at Castley; crossing the valley of the Wharfe by a lofty embankment and viaduct, the latter consisting of twenty-one arches, each sixty feet in span and ninety feet high in the middle, containing upwards of 50,000 tons of stone. A short tunnel and deep cutting carries the line through Wescoe hill, a mass of clay and shale; thence it curves onward by way of Pannal, passes through one of the arches of the Crimple viaduct, and then crosses the brook Crimple by a viaduct of ten arches, each of fifty feet span and fifty feet high; thence to Starbeck, about midway between Knaresborough and Harrogate; thence, by way of Bilton, to the river Nidd, which it crosses by a viaduct of seven arches, each of 50 feet span and 104 feet in height; thence proceeds

to Ripon and Thirsk. It was finished and opened in 1849. The stations in our district are Weeton, Pannal, and Starbeck.

In connection with the last named line was formed the East and West Yorkshire Junction railway, which extended between Starbeck and York. It was begun in 1847, and is carried under part of the town of Knaresborough by a tunnel, and then over the river Nidd by a viaduct of four arches, three hundred feet in length, and ninety feet in height. The foundation stone was laid in April, 1847, and the work was rapidly approaching completion, when, on the 11th of March, 1848, about noon, the whole mass of stonework and scaffolding fell down with a tremendous crash into the river below. This accident was caused by some deficiency in the construction of the piers. The damage was estimated at £10,000. It was afterwards built in a more substantial manner, and is now one of the most interesting objects in the town of Knaresborough. On whatever side the railways enter the Forest of Knaresborough they have to do it by means of lofty viaducts.

The above mentioned railways, though projected and made by distinct companies, became amalgamated, along with many others into a great system or union, called the North Eastern Railway Company. This Company having obtained the requisite powers, formed a branch railway to Pateley Bridge up the valley of the Nidd. This is but a single line, 11 miles in length from its junction with the main line near the Nidd viaduct to Pateley Bridge. The cost was about £8000 a mile. It was finished and opened May 1st, 1862. The stations upon the Forest are Hampsthwaite, Birstwith, and Darley.

The next piece of railway made in our district was for the accommodation of Harrogate. The nearest station from which the inhabitants and visitors of that town could obtain access to the populous districts of Yorkshire and Lancashire was at Starbeck,

two miles from the centre of the town. To remedy this inconvenience the Company obtained powers for connecting the Leeds and Thirsk line with the Church Fenton, near the southern end of the Crimple viaduct, thence crossing the Stray, and passing through the centre of the town, forming a junction with the old line near Bilton Gate, and with the York line at Starbeck; thus making Harrogate a central station, and the terminus of the Church Fenton, York and Harrogate, and Nidd Valley Railways. The works in connection with this extension were opened August 2nd, 1862.*

This line is only about 44 miles in length, yet it cost upwards of £100,000. The cost of the land was a considerable item in this amount; 5a. 1r. 7p., out of one estate, cost £4,850. Being generally on elevated ground, a great part of the line is a cutting. Over and under it there are fifteen bridges. W. Mc.Cormack, Esq., M.P., was the contractor.

KNARESBOROUGH FOREST.

"It was a salvage wood of ancient growth,
With dreary paths, and caves, and thick-set trees,
And darkened miles of land from north to south.
-Spenser.

What a train of associations is awakened by the word Forest! We pass at once in thought to the remote days when our British ancestors dwelt in the wild oak woods, and their priests cut the mistletoe with their golden knives, and taught the doctrine of the immortality of the soul beneath the solemn shades. We also picture to ourselves groves of lofty oaks where the axe of the woodman has never been heard, and groups of wild deer sweeping down the glades, or cropping the herbage at their ease. Then again we see them peopled by the stalwart forms of outlaws, desperate men, at war with all the world, but yet we do not fear them-they are the followers of some Robin Hood, terrible only to the proud and tyrannical, kind and courteous to the poor and humble. Such associations are pleasing to the mental vision, and the forests of our native land are full of them.