384 REPORT— 1895. 



Scarborough the cliffs consist of Oxford clay, calcareous grit, sandstone, and lime- 

 stone, the whole being surmounted hj' a considerable thickness of boulder clay. (In 

 the two small bays Ij'ing between these points, called Gristhorpe and Cayton Bays, 

 the cliffs are principally of boulder clay with here and there a little shale and sand- 

 stone;. These cliffs are undulating and vary in several places from 100 to 200 feet ; 

 the average will probably be about 180 feet. The Scarborough Castle Rock consists 

 of limestone and sandstone (Dogger Oolites), and rises 240 feet above high water. 

 And from hence, for upwards of a mile north, the cliffs are of boulder clay, which again 

 clianges to rock ; but for yet another mile it is principally boulder clay with here 

 and there a small cliff of sandstone at the bottom, after which, continuing north- 

 wards to Hayburn Wyke and Peak, the cliffs rise, till at Peak they attain a height of 

 600 feet, and consist of shale, sandstone, and limestone, running from 100 feet at 

 Oloughton (where thin veins of coal were formerly worked) to GOO at Peak, the 

 average height probably being about 200 feet. From Peak to Robin Hood's Bay the 

 cliff consists of the lower lias, shale, sandstone, and boulder clay, princiiDally the 

 latter. Here appear for the first time the large quarries of shale from which alum 

 was formerly abstracted. The height ranges from 350 feet near Peak to 100 feet 

 at the Bay, the average being about 140. From Robin Hood's Bay to Whitby the 

 cliffs consist of the upper and lower lias, shales and their divisions, and sandstone. 

 Old jet pits are numerous in these cliff's: they are of a pretty uniform height, 

 averaging about 200 feet. From Whitby for about 2 miles N.W. the cliffs are of 

 boulder clay, with here and there a little shale and sandstone, and average about 100 

 feet in height. 



3. — The general line from Bridlington to within l^ mile east of Whitby is north- 

 west and south-east ; from this point northwards it turns west by nor;h. 



i — This depends upon the season of the year. In winter (which usually lasts six 

 months of the year on this coast more or less) the prevailing wind is north-easterly 

 and northerl}'; in summer it is south-east and by south, veering to south south-west 

 in the late afternoon and evening. 



5. — A north-easterly and north-westerly sea brings the highest waves ; a northerly 

 sea brings up the shingle, and the backsweep of the ebb with a north-easterly wind 

 takes it away. This will be generally correct, but the fact is there is but very 

 little shingle on this coast, and this only in the bays, and it would be better 

 described as large gravel, and would be covered three-fourths of the year by a 

 more or less thick layer of sand. A strong westerly wind off the land will cause a 

 sea that will lift this sand, and leave bare the beds of shingle or gravel ; but this 

 again is not wholly accurate as applying to all the bays, for the bays at Whitby, 

 Robin Hood's Bay, and Scarborough have eddies of their own ; that in Scarborough 

 South Bay being very strong, and due to the projecting coast line south of the town 

 and Filey Brigg, and deposit left in Scarborough South Bay would be caused bj- the 

 ebb, while in Whitby and Robin Hood's Bay it would be caused by the flood. In 

 Filey and Bridlington Bays there are no eddies to speak of ; the projecting Brigg at 

 the north of Filey Bay and Flamborough Head on the south make this a comparatively 

 still bay, while the large sandbank off Bridlington Quay, called, I think, the Smithies, 

 and forming a long bar about 1^ mile from the shore, has the same effect here. 



6. — North-west during flood and south-east during ebb, but the true current is 

 not reached under a mile and a half or two miles from the shore, as the contours of 

 the coast and the bays cause deflections from the true current. 



What is the range of the tide ? 



(1) Vertical in feet. 



Between 15 and 16 feet at spring and 11 at neap tides. 



7.— This varies greatly. In Bridlington Bay I should think from 230 feet at 

 neap to 500 feet at spring tides. Around Flamborough Head there are places where 

 it never leaves the cliff face, but the average would be about 70 yards at neap to 

 no at spring. In Filey Bay it would be about 300 feet at neap to 450 feet at 

 spring. At Filey Brigg, which is a reef of flat rocks, it would be greatest about 700 

 feet at neap and 900 feet at spring. A little north of Filey Brigg the water scarcely 

 leaves the foot of the cliffs, after which come beds of the flat rocks and shingle bays 

 reaching to Scarborough; these at neap will average 300 feet and 400 feet at spring. 

 In Scarborough South Bay it will be about 240 feet at neap to 340 feet at spring, 

 around the castle rock 50 feet and 70 feet. In the North Bay the average will be 

 350 feet at neap and 450 feet at spring; thence on to Peak the average will be 

 90 feet and 120 feet ; in Robin Hood's Bay 200 feet at neap and 300 feet at spring; 



