we were told; "it's near Rockingham, and some seven miles from here. It's well worth seeing. It was once nearly purchased for a residence for George III. It's a grand old place all falling to ruin, as you see." Upon this we purchased the photograph, and determined to visit Kirby the next day, as we found we could take it on our way by a slight detour.
A CHARMING VILLAGE It was a grand drive over a wild open country to Rockingham, a charming village nestled at the foot of a wooded hill, which was crowned by a modernised feudal castle known locally as "the Windsor Castle of the Midlands." Here, with our usual good-fortune, we were permitted to see the gardens and the interior of the castle. We entered the courtyard through a great arched gateway, guarded on either hand by two massive round towers built in the Edwardian age, and as strong and substantial now as then. First we strolled round the old garden enclosed by a high stone wall. Alongside of this wall runs a broad terrace, from which elevated position looking down we had a glorious and space-expressing prospect over the wild Welland valley, bounded to the north by the wilderness of Lincolnshire hills showing green, gray, and faintly blue.
The interior of the castle is interesting. This, with the treasures stored therein, would need pages of description to do them justice. On the roof-*beam of the entrance-hall we noticed the following motto painted:—"This Howse Shall Be Preserved And Never Will Decaye Wheare The Almightie
