Mr. Cowham's Address 283 



Chalk scenery are abundantly evident — long 

 rolling curves, with not a single level yard 

 of field in view. The Station Chalk Quarry 

 shows patches of red sand and gravel. 

 These are evidence of the extension at one 

 time of the Croydon gravels as far as Purley. 

 The hills about Caterham are capped by 

 nfiany feet of the same gravels. These gravel 

 caps cause the beautifully varied aspects 

 obtained at Caterham. The student at once 

 recognizes the effect of a mixed rock-for- 

 mation upon the surface aspects. 



The walking expedition begins with an ascent of 

 the Chalk ridge overlooking the town of Caterham. 

 On the summit a halt is made, the view is enjoyed, 

 and a few questions suffice to associate the beauty of 

 landscape with the variety of rock forms. To realize 

 the extension of these North Downs eastwards through 

 Kent to North Foreland, and westward through Surrey 

 and Hampshire to Salisbury Plain, is an easy task. 

 The student then connects these downs with the 

 Chalk hills at Hitchen, Dunstable, and Luton. A 

 further imaginative effort enables him to reconstruct 

 the dome of Chalk southwards over the Weald, and 

 thus to connect the North Downs of Surrey with the 

 South Downs of Sussex. Similarly a synclinal curve 

 beneath the Wash connects the ridge north of London 

 (which extends north-eastwards to Norfolk) with the 

 Wolds of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, whilst south- 

 wards the Chalk Downs of Sussex and Hampshire 

 dip similarly beneath the Solent to reappear in the 

 Chalk range crossing the Isle of Wight. 



