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THE YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS' UNION 

 AT ROBIN HOOD'S BAY. 



On Friday, June 21st, the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union held their 

 79th meeting at Whitby, for the investigation of the Peak, or South 

 Cheek of Robin Hood's Bay. A large number of members 

 assembled from all parts of Yorkshire, attracted, no doubt, partly by 

 the fine weather and beautiful scenery, but also by the fact that the 

 excursion was under the leadership of a distinguished ex-President 

 of the Union, Mr. Wilfrid H. Hudleston, M.A., F.R.S., etc. 



Peak Station was reached soon after eleven a.m. Permission had 

 been given by Mr. A. Marshall, of Raven Hall — a fine mansion 

 built on the edge of one of the loftiest cliffs in England, 600 ft. — 

 to see the view from the garden terraces, partly cut out of the cliff 

 itself. Thither, then, the party first proceeded. The atmosphere 

 being clear, with a north-east wind, the combination of marine and 

 moorland scenery was charming in the extreme. According to the 

 well-known formula (nine-fifths of height in feet equals distance 

 squared in miles), the visible horizon at sea was over thirty miles 

 distant, the intermediate space being dotted over with steamers 

 and craft of all kinds. Opposite, across the Bay, at a distance of 

 about three miles, the picturesque village of Bay Town, built tier 

 above tier on the slopes of a preglacial ravine, gleamed red amidst 

 the surrounding green. To the left stretched the wide expanse of 

 moorlands, sooner this year than usual to look brilliant with purple 

 heather. 



After enjoying this beautiful view, the party divided. Small 

 detachments of zoologists and botanists worked the moors above 

 the Bay, Ramsdale Wood, and Mill Beck Valley, while the geologists 

 were led by Mr. Hudleston across the railway to the Crag Hall 

 Quarry, originally excavated for the purpose of extracting alum from 

 the A. communis zone of the Upper Lias. This zone was shown 

 to be here 400 ft. above its position at the foot of the Peak Cliff, 

 in consequence of a fault to that extent, the downthrow being on 

 the east side. The attenuation of the Dogger (here only 4 ft. thick) 

 with underlying sandrock, as compared with its great development 

 at Blea Wyke — viz., Grey Sandstone, 26 ft.; Yellow Sandstone, 

 25 ft.; Dogger, 33 ft. — was also pointed out. On the way to the 

 shore, the South Cheek, which consists of beds of the A. margari- 

 tatus zone of the Middle Lias, was attacked by the hammer-men, 

 and several fossils obtained. A recent fall of the Peak Cliff had 

 here conveniently placed a number of blocks of the Dogger series, 

 which were next attacked, with the result that several good casts of 



Aug. 1889. 



