i85 



PEAT INVESTIGATION. 



Good weather favoured the field meeting for Peat investigation on March 

 I2th, when a party of thirty-five from Bradford, Burnley, Cowling, 

 Crosshills, Huddersfield, Keighley, Leeds, Nelson and Skipton' assembled 

 at Lane Ends under the leadership of Mr. John Holmes for a visit to 

 Cowling Moor, near Keighley. 



The overflow channel of Statesden Clough showed an area where peat 

 was forming at the present time ; obstruction of drainage by a causeway 

 had developed a Rush and Sphagnum swamp. Proceeding to Smallden 

 Clough a stretch of denuding peat was crossed, with sections to the 

 underlying rock exposed in water courses ; the. stream from Tom Well 

 led to typical ground on which prehistoric flint implements have been 

 found among stones and silt in storm channels ; one imperfect scraper 

 with a worked edge, and a few flint flakes were picked up during the after- 

 noon. Rooted stumps of oak and birch were examined at an altitude of 

 1,100 ft., and several logs with much debris of birch were exposed in the 

 lower layers of peat along the stream sides. The position of the moor 

 pan, separating more or less sharply the grey leached soil full of rootlets, 

 from the underlying buff coloured sands, was examined, and in one 

 place embedded stones were seen cemented into a hard conglomerate 

 more nearly representing the massive pan found on ferruginous gravels, 

 than is usually found on the West Riding Moors. The upper peat here 

 showed signs of disturbance, being interbedded with silt as if re- 

 distributed by flood water. Mr. Holmes stated that the moor traversed 

 was the site of an ancient glacial lake of which two overflow channels 

 were pointed out. On the return journey a spot was shown where 

 a few years previously a sound oak log, thirty feet long and three or 

 four feet in girth had been taken from the peat and sold to the late 

 Samuel Margerison. 



At Cowling ample accommodation for tea had been arranged by the 

 thoughtfulness of Mr. Holmes, after which the party dispersed with 

 general expressions of appreciation of a pleasant and instructive afternoon. 

 In the evening Mr. W. H. Pearsall gave a lecture on Peat Investigation 

 to the Crosshills Naturalists' Society. Reference was made to the 

 special facilities for such work existing in Yorkshire, where there is a 

 greater extent of undisturbed peat than in any other county in the British 

 Islands ; the possible value of such land now lying derelict ; the question 

 of afforestation ; the various theories of the origin of the moors ; the 

 influence of rainfall and the human factor were discussed, and attention 

 was directed to the flat topped hills in Yorkshire where water tends to 

 accumulate. 



The breaking down of dead organisms to a soil rich in plant foods, 

 by moulds, bacteria, worms and insects was dealt with ; also the complex 

 adverse influences of deficiency of lime and potash, and the exclusion ' 

 of oxygen by water-logging or other agencies, which resulted in a sequence 

 of vegetation during the course of long ages, from oak on good soil con- 

 taining five or ten per cent, of humus, through pine, birch, bilberry and 

 hair grass to cotton grass moor, containing ninety per cent, of plant 

 remains. The lecturer considered that in many cases peat was the ulti- 

 mate stage of a natural sequence, following gradual exhaustion and stag- 

 nation of the soil, each stage being marked by vegetation capable of 

 enduring more rigorous conditions than its predecessor. 



A healthy stimulus was given to local workers by the formulation 

 of a number of problems which required solution : — What amount of 

 evidence, such as axe and fire marks, was there to support the theory of 

 human influence on destruction of primitive woodland ? 



What animal remains give evidence of the age of the peat ? An 

 example of this, mentioned, was a large jaw of horse, found under eighteen 

 feet of compact, undisturbed peat. The jaw was of such a size as to 



1921 May 1 



