THE sides of the road from London to Cheshunt, by Stoke Newington, Edmonton, and Enfield Wash, are thickly studded with suburban houses and gardens the whole distance; but, by going straight on through the Ball's Pond turnpike, and taking the country road leading out of Newington Green, called the Green Lanes, between the Tottenham and Edmonton road and the Barnet road, and threading our way through numerous interesting lanes, we may pass through very rural and umbrageous scenery, with the appearance of but few houses of any kind. Indeed, it may be mentioned as one of the most remarkable circumstances in the state of the country in the neighbourhood of London, that, while all the main roads are bordered by houses for some miles from town, so as almost to resemble streets, there are tracts which lie between the main roads, and quite near town, which have undergone little or no change in the nature of their occupation for several, and apparently many, generations; at all events, not since the days of Queen Elizabeth. The tracts of country to which we allude are in pasture or meadow, with crooked irregular hedges, numerous stiles and footpaths, and occasional houses by the road sides; the farms characterised by large hay-barns. Scenery of this kind is never seen by the citizen who goes to his country seat along the public road, in his family carriage or in a stage-coach; and it is accordingly only known to pedestrians, and such as are not afraid of driving their horses over rough roads, or meeting waggons or hay carts in narrow lanes.
