2 03-. 



THE YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS' UNION 

 AT LOWTHORPE NEAR DRIFFIELD. 



On Whit-Monday last, May 26th, 1890, the Yorkshire Naturalists'' 

 Union held its eighty-fourth meeting, the first of the season. The- 

 place selected was Driffield, for the investigation of Lowthorpe, Ruston 

 Parva, and the valley of the Kelk Beck from Lowthorpe Station 

 to Kilham. Permission for the investigation of their estates had 

 been handsomely granted by Mr. W. H. St. Quintin, M.P5.0.U., and 

 Mr. John Dickson. The weather, by no means a secondary con- 

 sideration on an excursion, was not all that could be desired, and 

 vividly reminded one of the excursion on the previous Whit-Monday, 

 when a similar state of things prevailed at Holmfirth. At the outset 

 the sky was dull and overcast, and slight rains fell at intervals in 

 many parts of the county. 



The farmers grew impatient, but a few confessed their error, 



And would not complain ; 

 For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining 



Is to let it rain. 



This threatening aspect of the weather no doubt deterred many 

 members, and ladies especially, from taking part in the excursion. 

 Those who did attend came provided with the inevitable mackintosh 

 and umbrella. About noon, however, the sun struggled forth, and 

 by the time the members arrived at Lowthorpe Station it was blazing 

 in an almost cloudless sky. Here the majority of the members left 

 their various impedimenta, including the aforesaid mackintosh and 

 umbrella, and those who elected to carry these useful but cumbrous 

 articles regretted later that they had not followed the example of 

 their more venturesome companions. The party was met by several 

 local members, and, now numbering about seventy, after a short 

 consultation, proceeded under the leadership of Messrs. J. R. 

 Mortimer, and L B. Ross, F.C.S.. in the direction of Ruston Parva. 

 The extensive woods to the right of Lowthorpe first claimed the 

 attention of the party, which proceeded up the Kelk Beck Valley, 

 occasionally crossing and recrossing the stream at the dictates or 

 fancy of the leaders, until Brace Bridge was reached. Here the 

 geologists diverged to inspect some chalk quarries at Ruston Parva, 

 under the intiependent leadership of Mr. Mortimer, while the 

 remainder confined their investigations to the more immediate 

 vicinity of the stream. The majority of the members returned to 

 Lowthorpe, whence they proceeded by train to Driffield, but a tew 

 journeyed on foot, passing through the little village of Nafferton, and 

 eventually joining their fellow workers at Driffield. 



July 1890. 



