close to the wall of the house, is an oak grey with lichens. Here I watched the merry ox-eyes flitting from twig to twig, and tapping them with head downwards and the handsome nuthatch, with his loud clear whistle, running up the boughs like a mouse, and hammering at them with all the concentrated force of his powerful body. In the herbage of the park, I heard the mingled tinkling warble of a dozen goldfinches the sweet song of the robin sounded from tree to tree. From the forest arose a few melodious notes of the thrush, and the loud laugh of the green woodpecker. A pied wagtail with his cheerful "chippeet" alighted on the roof of the house above me a lark flew across the park, uttering his pretty plaintive cry. In the garden, the scream of the jay and the chattering of jackdaws completed the gay, though not always melodious, concert." The Shores advertised the contents for sale in December 1838 as they were leaving the country. Later residents Major Edward Gilbert died in 1868 and the house was rented periodically for the next twelve years. It was put on the market in 1879 including "two prettily designed lodges from the Lyndhurst-road and Bartley-green". Both these old roads can still be traced on foot. Old Lyndhurst Road was rerouted to the present roundabout leaving the old road as a straight track across the north west of the estate. The Bartley Green road is now a gated Forestry Commission track and the former drive from there to the house is disused and heavily overgrown. In 1880 the house was bought by Frederick George Innes Lillingston who with his family lived there until 1891. Lillingston (1849-1904) was a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. He was born in 1849 and was the only son of Isaac William Lillingston. His father owned the large estate of Lochalsh in Scotland and Balmacara House. In 1871 he married Frances Elizabeth O’Brien and the couple had nine children. He made extension to the house to accommodate his large family. However, in 1891 he decided to sell the property and move to Torquay. It was purchased by Major Francis Bertram Dalrymple. Francis Bertram Dalrymple (1850-1932) was a major in the Royal Artillery. He was born in 1850 in Paddington. His father was Robert Farre Dalrymple, a wealthy London lawyer. He was married twice. His first wife