I have opened up a two way light switch but there is no 3 core cable just a live and neutral from down stair switch to up stair switch then live and neutral from upstairs switch going to rose then live and neutral from rose going to next light. How do I make it work please?

Need a bit more information to help you out. This sounds like you have two switches tat are used to control a string of lights - is that correct? When you mentio na rose - is that a light fixture? In this case you would expect the two switches would be 3-way (so that either one can control on/off independently of the other), but it sounds like perhaps they are 2-way switches wired in series? What is it about the 2-way switch that made you want to open it up? Try and be as detailed as you can.

Also - the fact that you don't see a ground wire in the wiring may be because your house uses conduit for ground (very common in the Chicago area) - where do you live? Or it could be that you have very old wiring, like the "knob-and-tube" variety of circa 1930's, that predates the practice of using ground wires. How old is the house?