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Excursion doion iJte Avon Gorge to Avonmouth. Tuesday, June 

 27th 1871.— As the excursion fixed for Littlecot was found to be 

 impi^cticable a large party started by the 9.45 a.m. train to Bristol 

 for the Gorge of the Avon at Clifton, an omnibus having been 

 chartered to° convey the members along the New Cut. As the 

 water in the river was low the New Red Sandstone of its banks was 

 well seen in section. Mr. Stoddart, F.G.S., of the Bristol Field 

 Naturalist Club, who had kindly promised to accompany the party, 

 joined them at the new docks. A short stay was made to examme 

 the works, and it was pointed out that the whole depth of the 

 docks is cut out of Alluvium which rests on New Red. From here the 

 members walked down the road on the right side of the river. 

 Numerous halts were made to listen to the explanations of Mr. 

 Stoddart. The first halt was opposite the Railway Inn, which is on 

 Dolomitic Conglomerate, or, as the Bristol naturalists prefer to call it, 

 Triassic Conglomerate. It consists of rolled pebbles of Old Red, Mill- 

 stone Grit, and other older rocks, all cemented together. A little 

 further down the river the upper Shales of the Carboniferous Lime- 

 stone series come in. Eveiy casual observer must notice the high 

 ancrle at which these dip, and must see why it is that though their 

 stratigraphical position is below the Triassic Conglomerate they form 

 much higher ground. These Upper Shales are veiy gi'itty : they 

 are about 500 feet thick, and contain numerous thin coal bands, 

 and a quantity of carbonate of iron. Underlying these Shales is the 

 so-called " massive" portion of the Carboniferous Limestone which is 

 estimated at about 1000 feet in thickness. These beds are con- 

 formable with the Shales, the dip of both the series being in this part 

 to N.N. E. The site of the Hotwell house marks the place where 

 the " massive" series of the Carboniferous Limestone commences. 

 It is a curious fact that in pulling down the house the source of 

 the spring has been in some way interfered with and cannot now be 

 found. Whether the nymph who presides over the spring, and 

 who seems to have modestly retreated on the destruction of her 

 temple, may be propitiated by a more splendid building remains to 



be seen. 



From the site of this Hotwell House, the passenger passing 

 along the road is, owing to the dip of the beds, walking through the 



