204 PROCEEDINGS COTTESVVOLD CLUB 1914 



The building of The Speech House appears to have commenced shortly 

 after 1668, in which year an Act was passed for the preservation and im- 

 provement of the Forest, but was not completed until 1682. It was intended 

 for the use of the ancient court of " The Speech." 



The fine Court Room — which between the Court meetings is used as a 

 general dining and coffee-room — is 25 feet long, 23 feet broad, and of good 

 height, and has a raised gallery along the southern wall. The walls are 

 decorated with the antlered heads of twenty-one Fallow Deer and one Red 

 Deer. 



After tea, Mr St Clair Baddeley, in the name of the Club, thanked Mr 

 Hanson for his great kindness in conducting the Members, and Mr Hanson 

 replied. Unfortunately, the Rev. Walter Butt, who was acting for the Presi- 

 dent (Professor Ainsworth-Davis), was indisposed, and could not take ad- 

 vantage of the rambles before and after lunch. 



The ride home by way of Cinderford, Mitcheldean, Huntley and Highnam 

 proved scarcely less enjoyable than the outward journey, for the wide-spread 

 carpets of blue hyacinths were still illuminated by the sun, and the hawthorn 

 trees in the Forest, no less than those in the roadside gardens, were marvels 

 of beauty and sweetness. 



Among many other interesting facts Mr Hanson mentioned that after 

 making diligent search in the Forest only fifteen mistletoe plants have been 

 found, eight of which were on poplar trees and none on oak. This tends to 

 confirm the belief that the connection between the oak and mistletoe in drui- 

 dical times is more mythical than real. 



REFERENCES. 



Bellows, John. — "A Week's Holiday in the Forest of Dean." John 

 Bellows, Gloucester. 6d. 



Cooke, A. O. — " The Forest of Dean." Constable, London. 



Guise, Sir William. — Presidential Address. Proc. Cotteswold Nat. 

 F.C., vol vi., pt. 3 (1876), pp. 285-288. 



Hanson, C. O. — " Forestry for Woodmen." Clarendon Press. Price 5s. 



. — " Forestry," Proc. Cotteswold Nat. F.C., vol. xviii., part i (1912), 



pp. 59-61. 



Thompson, W. — " The Dean Forest School of Forestry," Idem., pp. 62-65. 



Board of Agriculture. — Joint Annual Report of the Forestry Branches 

 for the year 1912-1913. Price lojd. 



Wood Distillation Works, Forest of Dean. — Description of Works cind 

 Process. 19 14. 



EXCURSION TO STROUD. 



Thursday, May 28th, 1914. 



Directors : L. Richardson and E. Northam Witchell. 



(Report by L. Richardson and W. Thompson.) 



Those present included Prof. J. R. Ainsworth-Davis (President), the 

 Rev. Walter Butt, Mr L. Richardson (Hon. Secretary), Lieut. -Col. J. C. Duke, 

 Dr. J. H. Garrett, Messrs. A. J. Morton Ball, J. M. CoUett, F.C.S., T. S. Ellis, 

 F. Haunam-Clark, C. I. Gardiner, F.G.S., J. H. Jones, E. P. Little, H.H. 

 Knight, E. Lawrence, F. J. Myhus, A. E. Smith, J. A. Smithin, W. Thompson, 

 E. Northam Witchell, etc. 



The Members met at the G.W.R. Station, Stroud, at 3 p.m., and drove 

 to Mr F. Harper's gravel-pit at Gannicox (Plate XXI., fig. i). 



Mr Richardson said that the main object of their visit to Stroud was to 

 see these gravels. In the pit belomgng to Mr H. Blanch, near the Cainscross 

 Brewery, there was a deeper face of gravel exposed, and as the rain now falling 

 was not very pleasant for open-air speaking, perhaps it would be more satis- 

 factory if the Members visited the Senior Council School at Downfield, and 



