Manchester Memoirs, Vol. Iviii. (19 14), No. 8. 7 



according to a rough chart he sent to the Fishing Gazette, 

 March 30th, 1907, found a depth of 105 feet, but the surface 

 of the mere may then have been higher. The late Robert 

 Okell ^ thought, from memory only, that the depth was 

 more like 130 or 140 feet, and Mr. Anthony Carter fancies 

 that his father talked of even deeper holes, but it is 

 certain that it is now nowhere much over 100 feet. 



The soundings show steep descent on the south-west, 

 where the ground rises rapidly from the bank to the 

 church. The drop from 20 to 80 feet is very rapid, but a 

 considerable area in the centre is between 80 and 90 feet. 



At the south-east, towards the mouth of the outflow 

 brook, the mere is shallower, many acres being less than 

 20 feet in depth. 



At the north, where the lake narrows, it is bounded 

 by a moss or bog, known as the Gale Bog. Here there 

 is the appearance of a secondary subsidence, but of no 

 great depth. A bar or shallower ridge divides the two 

 portions of the mere ; the depth is about 14 feet at the 

 bar, and falls to the north again to 22 feet. Local tradi- 

 tion insists that the depth close to and under the bank at 

 the edge of the Gale Bog is 40 feet, but this is incorrect. 

 Although the peaty edge of the bog slightly overhangs 

 deep water in places, our soundings only give 18 feet at 

 the immediate edge. 



To the south of the Gale Bog, on the western margin, 

 is a small inlet or pond, marked on the map with the 

 word " Sluice." No real sluice exists now, but it suggests 

 that at one time this pond was used as a " stock pond," 

 and is probably artificial ; it is connected by a narrow, 

 though deep, opening with the mere. 



Except at the Gale Bog end, where the soil is almost 

 entirely peat, the margin is sandy, but most of the bottom 



1 Fishing Gazette, April 6th, 1907. 



