VOL. XVII. (2) CRANHAM & PRINKNASH PARK 165 



Antwerp, and were finally driven from Zeeland with great loss. The broken- 

 down fever-stricken British troops ultimately disembarked at Ramsgate. 

 The straw and litter upon which they had slept were afterwards thrown into 

 a disused chalk-pit belonging to a Mr Thompson ; other refuse was mixed 

 with it, and in due time it was employed to manurp the neighbouring fields. 

 Wherever the material was used, a plentiful crop of the plant followed, so 

 much so that in Kent it became known as " Thompson's weed " or " Thomp- 

 son's curse." From Ramsgate it spread over the Isle of Thanet, and at the 

 present day its head-quarters may be said to be the edges of the cliffs and 

 the road-sides about Margate and Broadstairs, where it forms a conspicuous 

 feature of the vegetation. When once it had taken hold of the soil, it became 

 a terrible pest ; its roots were many feet in length, and soon choked the drain- 

 pipes of the fields. Considering the immense numbers of seeds of alien plants 

 which are annually turned out from the straw and other materials, now lieing 

 used for packing the articles of commerce which reach Great Britain and 

 Ireland from all the countries of the world, the surprise is that so few of them 

 make any permanent impression upon the constituents of the native vegeta- 

 tion. But Cardaria Draha was one of the few plants which had come to stay ; 

 and it has reached the Cotteswolds. It is gradually spreading all over the 

 country, but nowhere with the same prodigality as in the Isle of Thanet. It 

 is found in almost every European country, in Siberia, and western Asia 

 as far as India, and in the African countries bordered by the Mediterranean. 



HALF-DAY EXCURSION TO CRAXHAM & PRINKNASH PARK 



Near GLOUCESTER 



Saturday, July 2nd, 19 lo 



{Report by W. Thompson) 



The second Half-day Field Meeting of this Club was held in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Cranham. There was a large muster of Members in spite of 

 the stormy afternoon. Cheltenham, Gloucester and Stroud were well 

 represented, and the Members were fully compensated for the unpleasant 

 journey they had. The first place they visited was the Potteries at Cranham, 

 an industry that has made the little secluded village famous for many centuries. 



The manufacture and drying of flower-pots and other earthenware 

 utensils was inspected, and the various processes, including glazing of the 

 inside of pans, fully explained. i Then leaving the Potteries, the Members, at 

 the invitation of Mr John Herbert, paid a visit to " The Old House," which 

 Mr Herbert occupies. The quaint rooms, the low ceilings, the old-fashioned 

 open fire-places with their andirons or lire-dogs, the circular staircases, the 

 bedrooms with their scrupulously clean white walls, were all in turn a source 

 of interest to the visitors, who expressed their appreciation of the kindness 

 of Mr Herbert in inviting them to his romantic domicile. An inscription 

 over the doorway was deciphered as " G. R., 1727." 



Returning to the carriages at the top of the hill, the party drove to 

 Prinknash Park, to which they had been invited by Mr T. Dyer Edwardes. 

 Mr Dyer Edwardes first conducted the Members through his beautiful gardens, 

 and then, after entertaining them to tea, gave them a description of the 

 house and its history .2 It appears that Abbot Parker resided here in 1526, 



1 A det.iiled description of the Potteries is given in the " Proceedings " o£ the Cheltenham 

 Natural Science Society for iqto (pp. 252-253). 



2 See " Country Life " for September, igoS. 



