VOL. XVIII. (2) EXCURSION— GLOUCESTER CANAL m 



an appearance on the banks of the Medway, where the troops were put in 

 quarantine, was in a field close to Chepstow Castle, and it is still found there 

 in quantity. Several years ago, when the Club was driving near Northleach, 

 this plant was noticed and commented on. 



Among other plants noticed were Plantago mantima, Plantago Coronopus, 

 Cardamine amara, (Enaiithe fisiulosa, Cnicus arvensis (var. setosus), Spergu- 

 laria marginata, Glaux maritima , Butomus umbellatus, Carex riparia, Callitriche 

 stagnalis, Potamogeton perfoliatus, Potamogeton crispus, Potamogeton pectina- 

 tus, Lathyrus Nissolia, Galium palustre, Radicula (Nasturtium) aquatica, 

 Senebiera pinnatifida, Scrophularia nodosa, Lythrum Salicaria, Sclerochloa 

 distans (not native), Myriophyllum spicatum, Lycopus europceus, Myosotis 

 scorpioides. 



^Vhilst seated on the Severn bank, near the mouth of the Frome, Mr T- 

 S. Ellis directed attention to the theory he tenaciously holds with regard to 

 the action of a tributary on the bank of the river it joins. Briefly stated, 

 this is that the tributary, in combination with the current against which it 

 sets, has the effect of making the bank through which it has cut concave, and 

 docs not, as some assert, cause the main stream to set up concavity on the 

 opposite side of the river bed. Certainly the entrance of the Frome into the 

 Severn would seem to corroborate Mr Ellis's contention. On Saturday the 

 little stream which travels down the Chalford Valley, and then passes by way 

 of Stroud, Dudbridge, Ryeford, and Kingstanley to the Severn, was both 

 rapid and foul. Even while the Cotteswoldians watched its junction with 

 the greater river the volume perceptibly increased, and this was said to be 

 attributable to the opening of hatches — a customary week-end undertaking — 

 along the line of mills which for so many years has been indebted to the 

 Frome for assistance. 



The President, referring to the Roman altar which is supposed to have 

 once stood on Tidenham Chase, said that since the last meeting he had received 

 a communication from Stonehouse to the effect that the missing stone was to 

 be seen at Sedbury Park. Unfortunately this was not the case. He had seen 

 what was visible at that place, and the relics were certainly not of Roman 

 origin, but of a comparatively modern date. The mysterious thing was that 

 local archaeologists should have permitted anything in the nature of a Roman 

 altar to pass entirely from human vision. 



The return trip to Gloucester was made in time to enable Members from 

 Cirencester, Stroud, and Cheltenham to make use of convenient trains, but 

 before the final disembarkation the President in the name of the Club thanked 

 Mr CuUis for his great kindness, and Mr J. H. Jones for the travelling facilities 

 provided by the Canal Company. [L.R.] 



EXCURSION TO THE SHERBORNE DISTRICT, DORSET. 



Wednesday — Friday, July i6th to i8th, 1913. 



[Report by L. Richardson) 



Directors : Rev. Canon Gordon Wickham, Rev. H. C. Sydenham. Rev- 

 C. F. PowYS, Alfred Gates, Rev. S. A. Selwyn and L. Richardson. 



Last year the Long Excursion of the Club was held in South Dorset ; this 

 year in North Dorset. 



WEDNESDAY 



The Members met at the Digby Hotel, Sherborne, at 12 o'clock on 

 the Wednesday, and after lunch drove out to Half-way House, a hamlet half- 

 way between Sherborne and Yeovil. On the outskirts of the town they saw 

 the Sherborne Ladies' College, modelled on the lines of that at Cheltenham, 



