CRYPTOGAMIO FLORA OP WARWICKSHIRE. 135 



521.- -Hypmmi revolwem Swartz. In marshes, rai-e. Abundant at Earl's 

 Wood, near Reservoir. May. 



I have also found Gampylopus flexuosus abundant in Sutton Park, thus 

 confirming Purton's observation of its occurrence in Warwickshire ; and 

 Mnium rostratum, Shustoke, in fine fruit, April, 1880, recorded by Purton 

 from Oversley Hill, but thought to be doubtful as a Warwickshire plant. 



A VISIT TO THE CRE SWELL CAVES. 



BY JAMES SHIPMAN. 



During the latter years of the late Duke of Portland it was a rare 

 thing to be permitted to visit Welbeck. Not so much, perhaps, because 

 the old duke had any great objection to sightseers themselves as from a 

 strong desire to let the outside world know as little as possible of what 

 was going on in the way of alterations and improvements on the estate, 

 until such time as his plans were completed. When, therefore, the 

 Nottingham Naturalists' Society obtained permission to visit the princely 

 halls of Welbeck and the pre-historic caves at Creswell Crags, the event 

 was looked forward to with unusual interest. The annual excursion of 

 the Society in July last year was devoted to this classic ground, but the 

 weather proving unpropitious, arrangements were made for this, the 

 second visit, a week or two afterwards. 



The stretch of country it was felt desirable to traverse necessitated 

 an early start for those who meant to go over the whole of the ground. 

 Accordingly, the party set out while the mist of approaching rain was as 

 yet undistinguishable from the gray light of dawn, reaching the quiet, 

 straggling hamlet of Creswell at about half -past seven. Physical needs 

 had not been forgotten, and a very refreshing breakfast awaited the 

 visitors at Mr. Woodhead's cottage. 



There is nothing very remarkable about the country as seen from the 

 village, which is nestled in a small valley worn out of the Lower 

 Magnesian Limestone of the Permian. It is in the ravines, or "grips " as 

 they are called, formed by the streamlets eating their way through the 

 limestone rocks, where the most charming scenery is met with. Even to 

 the non-scientific the pleasure derived from a stroll along these glens is 

 almost enough to induce them to become geologists. The most interesting 

 of these ravines seemed to lie among the gentle hills away to the north-west 

 of Creswell. Leaving Creswell, therefore, and tracing the brisk Wolland in 

 the direction of its source, the excursionists soon found themselves descend- 

 ing into one of those glens, called Hollin Hill Grip, where the thin-bedded 

 lilac-weathered limestone rocks rose into wall-like cliffs on each side. 

 Occasionally the winding cliffs assumed the appearance of small 

 dismantled turrets or bastions, now grass-grown, with here and there a 

 fissure or a recess, partly concealed by young trees and creepers, while 

 the gnarled oak ( Quercus pedunculata ) was observed curiously adapting its 

 stem to the geometrical lines of bedding and of joint-planes in the 

 limestone rocks. Another of these picturesque glens was Markland 

 Grip, if anything even prettier than Hollin Hill, while the ground 



