MILLER'S DALE—DERBYSHIRE—p.22.
The Miller's Dale is one of the most picturesque passages in the interesting valley of the Wye. It extends, for about two miles, in a direction south-east from Wormhill Village, and the colouring of the landscape is diversified by the appearance of loadstone and tufa intersecting the strata of this limestone district. The river, which is pent up within a narrow chasm beneath the mills, appears to rejoice at its release, as it quietly expands into a more ample stream, and glides leisurely away. This delightful dale abounds in scenes that soothe and tranquillize the mind. The stream is never turbulent, never still; though in some places the huge branches of the gnarled oak, or a weather-beaten elm, shoot from a fissure in the rock above, in a manner that Salvator would adopt; yet the light and graceful foliage with which it is accompanied, subdues every feature of wildness, and softens down the whole to beauty. When darkness pervades the Dale, and the many windows are lighted up, and not even the outline of the buildings is to be traced against the dark mountains, fancy may take it for an illuminated palace raised by the magician’s power.
