OLDHAM is situated on an eminence on the western bank of the Medlock and near the source of another stream called the Irk. It is only about seven miles distant from Manchester, and this circumstance, together with the advantages of railways and water carriage, and especially its mineral resources, have constituted this one of the most extensive seats of the staple manufacture of the county. The goods chiefly made here are fustian, velveteens, calicoes, and cotton and woollen cords. The silk manufacture is making progress. The original staple trade is the manufacture of hats, which still prevails to a very large extent. Mr. Thomas Henshaw, an opulent hatter and a native, founded a blind asylum at Manchester, and a blue coat school at Oldham. Hugh Oldham, Bishop of Exeter, who founded and endowed the free school of Manchester, derived his name, if not his origin, from this town. Oldham has numerous churches, chapels, and schools. It was first constituted a borough by the Reform Act, and now returns two members. No town in this vicinity has grown in size and numbers more rapidly than Oldham. In 1760, it is said to have consisted of only sixty dwellings. The population in 1851 amounted to 72,357.

HALIFAX is a well built and opulent town, deriving its importance from the manufacture of cloth, which was commenced here about the middle of the sixteenth century. It has numerous cotton mills and factories, and is the principal mart for stuffs, such as shalloons, serges, &c., for the sale of which an immense building, called the Piece Hall, has been erected, having 315 rooms for the lodgment of goods, which are open for sales once a week. The vicinity of Halifax abounds with coal, and it is connected by railways with all parts of the kingdom. The Calder navigation also affords a ready communication with Hull, and the Rochdale Canal with Manchester, Chester, Liverpool, and Lancaster. Halifax has numerous churches and chapels. The old church is a venerable Gothic structure. There are also several meeting houses and charitable institutions, free schools, &c. Halifax once had criminal jurisdiction, even in capital cases. Any person found guilty of theft was beheaded by means of a machin, resembling the guillotine, called the "Maid of Halifax." Two M. P. Pop. 1851, 33,582.

BRADFORD, seven miles distant from Halifax, is a well-built and populous town, beautifully situated at the union of three extensive valleys, and forms nearly a central point with Halifax, Keighley, Leeds, Wakefield, Dewsbury, and Huddersfield. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the manufacture of woollen cloths and cotton. There is abundance of coal and iron ore in the vicinity. The trade of the town is greatly promoted by railway traffic as well as by a canal which leads from the centre of the town to the Leeds and Liverpool canal. Bradford possesses numerous churches, chapels, meeting houses, and schools, a cloth hall, &c. The environs of the town are extremely pleasant, and the surrounding country abounds with picturesque scenery. During the great civil war the inhabitants of Bradford were distinguished for their adhere..

the parliamentary cause, and twice repulsed a large body of royalists from the garrison of Leeds. Two M.P. Pop. 1851, 103,778.

At Undercliffe, near Bradford, is the Airedale College for the education of Dissenting ministers. About five miles from the town is the Moravian settlement of Fulneck, distinguished by the neatness and industry of its inhabitants.

CXXIII. MANCHESTER TO HUDDERSFIELD AND LEEDS (BY MIRFIELD AND DEWSBURY), BY RAILWAY, 42 Miles.

CXXIV. PRESTON TO BLACKBURN, BURNLEY, COLNE, SKIPTON,

AND LEEDS, BY RAILWAY, 66 Miles.