XXX 



FiELB Meeting, 25th April, 1896. 

 ALDBURT AND ASHRIDGE PARK. 



The locality chosen for the first Field Meeting of the year has 

 frequently been yisited by the Society, bnt there is no more 

 attractive spot in Hertfordshire, the neighbourhood of Aldbury 

 being of interest to the botanist, the geologist, and the antiquary, 

 and also exceedingly picturesque. This meeting was under the 

 direction of Mr. Alan F. Grossman, and was attended by upwards 

 of thirty members, most of whom were from !St. Albans, while 

 "Watford, Berkhamsted, and Ware each furnished a small con- 

 tingent. 



Assembling at Tring Station, the quaint little village of Aldbury 

 was soon reached, and the stocks and whipping-post which stand 

 by the side of the village pond brought to mind the primitive but 

 inexpensive and effective punishments of olden times, of which the 

 pictm^esque timbered houses are also relics well worth the attention 

 of artist or photographer. 



A steep ascent up the wooded hill on the right brought the 

 party to the Monument, erected " In honour of Francis, third 

 Duke of Bridgewater, ' Father of Inland Navigation,' 1832." The 

 entrance to the steps up the interior of this monument is kept 

 carefully locked up, and although the requisite order had been 

 obtained, the cottage near where a key is kept and gingerbeer 

 may usually be obtained, was found to be deserted at the time, 

 and a key had to be procured elsewhere, causing a considerable 

 delay. The time, however, was very pleasantly spent in a ramble 

 in the neighbouring woods in search of wild flowers ; but there 

 was little found besides bluebells and primroses, both of which 

 were flowering in profusion, the contrast between their bright and 

 delicate colours giving quite a gay appearance to the green carpet 

 of vegetation from which they sprang. 



The Monument, which is 200 feet high, was then ascended, and 

 a splendid view was obtained from its summit. St. Albans, with 

 its Abbey, twelve miles to the south-east, was distinctly seen, with 

 the range of hills beyond which mark the outcrop of the London 

 Clay over the Chalk. But the greatest interest of the view is 

 towards the north and north-west, and is due to the geological 

 features of the country, which were pointed out by Mr. Hopkinson. 

 Immediately below is the beautifully-wooded valley in which 

 Aldbury is situated, and which has been cut out of the Lower 

 Chalk by a stream which now seldom flows ; beyond is the true 

 escaipment of the Lower Chalk, with the Totternhoe Stone forming 

 a projecting ridge, and passing into the Upper Greensand ; in the 

 middle distance is the Gault, forming the fertile Vale of Aylesbury, 

 and rising into hills here and there; and the higher hills in the 

 extreme distance mark the outcrop of the Lower Greensand. Just 

 this side of Cheddingtoa Station an outlier of the Lower Challc 

 forms a terraced hill called AVest End Hill, showing that the Chalk 

 once extended much beyond its present limits, a mass of vast 



