Mr. Cowham's Address 287 



this year a number of teachers will join me, I shall be 

 happy to accompany them over the Caterham district. 

 Sufficient material for thought has been given at 

 this stage of the journey, and a mental relief is 

 afforded by walking over the undulating surface of 

 the Downs. At a deep cutting along the road the 

 Chalk is left behind and a new formation comes 

 into view. The Greensand at this point is marked 

 by a quarry burrowing beneath for 400 yards. The 

 quarry may be followed for some distance. It affords 

 striking evidence of the downward incline of the syn- 

 clinal on this side of the London basin. If followed 

 beneath London it would reach a lowest position 

 and then gradually come upwards and emerge at 

 the surface northwards of the Chalk beyond Dun- 

 stable, Luton, and Kitchen. As the greensand does 

 not yield any marked feature on the landscape at 

 Caterham it is rapidly passed under review, and a 

 long and somewhat uninteresting trudge is com- 

 menced over the flat surface of the Gault Clay. The 

 appearance of the London Clay area is recalled, and 

 its striking features, viz. flat-weathering, plain-like 

 surface aspect, well -cultivated and heavily-timbered 

 fields, are repeated. As the next formation is a light- 

 coloured, silvery-looking sand, the class is asked to 

 make an attempt to locate the point of transition 

 from the Gault Clay to the Folkestone Sand. This 

 lends interest to the walk. The result is not always 

 encouraging. Some trudge on and apparently fail 

 entirely to see the slightest indication of the change. 

 There are some who notice the slight alteration in the 

 undulation of the roadway, and the still more marked 

 and rapid dip in the surface of the adjoining fields; 



