MIDDLEMARCH Being the start point of the central Otago Cycle Route has been the catalyst for a bit of an economic rebirth for Middlemarch. Middlemarch is on state highway 85 and is one of many alternative routes to Queenstown. The town lies in a huge and impressive valley that in truth makes driving a delight. Middlemarch is a nice strip town that had its birth in the railway era. The rail is now terminating at Middlemarch and the Central Otago Trail track begins. Several suggestions exist about how the township was named. One is that Mrs Alice Humphreys, whose husband Edward Wingfield Humphreys owned and had surveyed for sale of sections in this new township, was reading George Eliots nove Middlemarch. As with many places in and close to the Maniototo area, its name may have been influenced by the Northumberland ancestry of early surveyor John Turnbull Thomson (there is a Middle March region in Northumberland, centred on the town of Otterburn). Whose name will come up again at Ranfurly. Middlemarch has the classic Otago Hotel. Where a drink is a must. The hotel is by the railway and not in the main street. For a small town there are a number of churches. The War Memorial is a significant structure on the main road. And, Middlemarch has a museum that is open at train arrival times. Be sure to stop and take in this great little town.