205 
YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS AT ROCHE ABBEY. 
For the first time in the history of the Union, the year’s ex- 
cursion programme was commenced in the month of March. 
Originally intended to extend over the week-end, the outing 
to Roche Abbey had perforce to be reduced to Easter Saturday 
only, as suitable headquarters could not be obtained within 
the immediate neighbourhood; even Rotherham, the city 
beautiful (?), failing in this latter respect. The rural charm of 
Maltby will soon be but a memory, owing to the activities in 
the Yorkshire Coalfield, a new pit having been sunk in Maltby 
Wood. The Union had twice visited the district, in 1896 and 
1905, and owing to the changes which will doubtless result 
by the colliery operations it was thought best to take advan- 
tage of present conditions before this activity made itself felt. 
Certainly it was an auspicious start, those present including 
the President, Mr. Harold W. T. Wager, F.R.S., and with one 
exception, every section’s official representative. Under the 
guidance of Mr. E. Snelgrove, the whole party worked along- 
side the stream as far as Lovatt’s Mill, and thence through the 
woods to Roche Abbey, where, after a brief rest for lunch, the 
party divided, the general body of naturalists inspecting the 
ruins of the Abbey and working through the grounds beyond, 
to the village of Stone, and back to headquarters through 
King’s Wood. A party of geologists, under the guidance of 
Mr. C. Bradshaw, visited the new colliery in Maltby Wood, 
where they searched the waste materials for fossils. 
Prior to the ordinary meeting a special meeting of the Per- 
manent General Committee was held, when the old rule as to 
the constitution of the Executive was substituted by the 
following new rule, viz :— 
“ That the Executive shall consist of the President, Ex- 
Presidents, the Presidents of the Sections lettered B, C, 
D, E, and F, the Honorary Secretaries, the Honorary 
Treasurer, the Divisional Secretaries, the Editors and 
Sub-Editors of The Naturalist, the Soppitt Memorial 
Librarian, and the delegate to the British Association, 
together with a representative selected by each Section and 
Committee of Research.” 
The election of Mr. Edwin Hawkesworth to the office of 
Treasurer of the Union was unanimously carried. 
Sectional reports of the work done during the day were 
given as follows :—Geology, Mr. C. Bradshaw; Flowering 
Plants and Mosses, Mr. E. Snelgrove; Fungi, Mr. W. N. 
Cheesman; Vertebrate Zoology, Mr. W. H. Parkin; Con- 
chology, Mr. W. D. Roebuck ; Arachnida, Messrs. W. Falconer 
and W. P. Winter. 
Hearty thanks were accorded to Mr. E. Snelgrove, for his 
services in connection with the local arrangements for the 
1913 May 1. 
