Exmoor, like Dartmoor, can be approached from many different places, but to reach some of the finest and most typical stretches of the moor one cannot do better than choose Dulverton or Minehead.  Porlock, six or seven miles by road (there is no railway) from Minehead, is a third place admirably suited for getting on to Exmoor; it is the nearest place of any size to Dunkery Beacon, which is the highest shoulder of the moor (1707 feet).  The drawing given here shows the valley of the Horner, a small stream rising on the heathery slopes of Dunkery Beacon, which appears in the distance.  This valley is one of the most romantic spots on Exmoor.  After a long ride or ramble on foot over the open heather, with sweeping views which include Dartmoor, South Wales, the hills around Bath, as well as Brown Willy in Cornwall, one finds the ground falling steeply, and before long one is climbing down a water-worn path among sturdy oaks.  The air also becomes full of the music of the rushing Horner below.  The stream is eventually discovered boiling over mossy stones in the green shade of the close-growing trees filling the deep valley.  The quieter pools are frequently taken advantage of by a hard-pressed stag, for this particular piece of country is frequently hunted over by the Devon and Somerset staghounds, some of the most popular meets of the season being held at Cloutsham farm, on one of the slopes of the Horner valley.  The neighbourhood of Dulverton includes some fine bits of river scenery—­the Barle, the Haddeo, and the Exe meeting one another in the midst of lovely wooded hills.  Many of the villages on the margin of Exmoor are exceedingly pretty.  The churches, too, are generally of great interest.

[Illustration:  ON EXMOOR.

Looking up the Horner valley towards Dunkery Beacon, which is shown under shadow.]

KNUTSFORD

THE HOME OF MRS. GASKELL

=How to get there.=—­Train from Euston via Crewe.  L. and N.W.  Rly. =Nearest Station.=—­Knutsford. =Distance from London.=—­180 miles. =Average Time.=—­Varies between 4 to 5-1/2 hours.

                     1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=—­Single 24s. 6d. 16s. 6d. 14s. 3-1/2d. 
          Return 49s. 0d. 31s. 6d. 28s. 7d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=—­“Royal George Hotel,” etc.

Knutsford still retains the air of old-world quaintness which Mrs. Gaskell has made so familiar in her delightful Cranford.  The whole of Knutsford breathes the fresh and bright tidiness one always involuntarily associates with such ladies as “Miss Jenkyns,” and every house rejoices in a beautifully neat garden.  The Royal George Hotel, in the High Street, is a perfect feast to the eye of panelled wainscotting, oak settles, and Chippendale cabinets.  The richness, all over the town, of ancient carvings, staircases, and chimney-pieces, is due to the prosperity which the coach traffic between Liverpool and Manchester brought to the place for many years.