YORK IN ITS REGIONAL SETTING S 



with the shallowness and irregularity of its bed, frequently infested with 

 reeds which operate to accentuate the sluggish flow of its waters, makes it 

 an exceptionally ill-famed river. Flooding is most frequent and wide- 

 spread at Stamford Bridge, and along the tidal reach of the river, i.e. below 

 Sutton, especially in the Bub with neighbourhood. The rise of the tide 

 up the Ouse tends to pond back the Derwent, and also to silt up its lower 

 course with warp (tidal sediment). The river is especially shallow near 

 its junction with the Ouse ; in places it is only 3 feet deep, whereas it 

 should be 12 feet at low tide. The Derwent enters the Ouse in an 

 upstream direction at an angle of about 30 degrees. At one time it 

 joined the Ouse 4I miles further down. Bubwith, seated on a hairpin 

 bend of the Derwent midway between the confluence of this river with the 

 Ouse and the entry of the Pocklington Canal, is as it were caught between 

 two fires ; and perhaps the presence of a raised road and bridge adds to 

 its troubles. Extensive areas of swamp and marsh have been reclaimed, 

 but the problem of drainage remains acute in the southern part of the vale, 

 particularly the south-central, where the high sub-surface water-table is 

 a reflection of it. 



The vale is characterised by a medley of soils varying within narrow 

 limits, so that a summary account is of little value. South of the York 

 moraine, however, sandy loams — light, easily-worked soils — are pre- 

 dominant, while alluvium occurs immediately along the rivers, and there 

 is also warp. The latter embraces ' natural ' warp, which spreads along 

 the Derwent extending south-eastwards from Sutton-on-Derwent, and 

 ' artificial ' warp, which displaces the foregoing south of the Selby-HuU 

 railway and reaches to the Humber. The alluvium, heavy and frequently 

 liable to flood, is generally under grass ; so also the natural warp, which 

 is an infertile stratified lacustrine deposit of glacial parentage. By con- 

 trast, the artificial warp is of high fertility and carries a variety of crops. 

 North of York natural warp spreads north-west for some 10 miles up the 

 centre of the vale. This is girdled by sandy loams, which are again broken 

 by alluvium along the rivers, while towards the marginal uplands they give 

 place to boulder clay. Finally, the latter predominates across the extreme 

 north of the vale, where it passes into the ' Northallerton Gate.' The 

 strength of the clay here in the north has long caused it to be esteemed as 

 wheat land, but the greater part is under grass. Regarded as a whole, 

 the soils of the vale support good crops, particularly when adequately 

 sweetened with lime, which is to hand in the margins of the vale. In the 

 eastern part of the area beneficial results have accrued in the past from 

 marling, a practice hardly surviving now. Many of the lighter soils are 

 also improved by running sheep on them. The agriculture of the vale is 

 one important manifestation of the ' betweenness ' of the region (see, 

 further, Chap. XIV). 



Climatically the vale enjoys conditions approximating to those which 

 support the arable lands par excellence of England, and with a mean July 

 temperature of 60° F. the region just has a sufficiency of summer 

 warmth to ripen wheat, which, north of the vale, will ripen only in excep- 

 tionally favoured spots. Rainfall, which is liable to occur practically 

 every other day, decreases from an annual total of just under 30 inches 



