8 SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF YORK AND DISTRICT 



Some reference has already been made to the part played by the railway 

 in relation to modern York, and its importance cannot be overestimated. 

 In the decade 1 841-51, immediately following the introduction of the 

 railway, the city's population increased by over a quarter as against 10 per 

 cent, during the previous ten years. The formation of the North Eastern 

 Railway in 1854, with headquarters at York, was a further stimulus, while 

 the opening of the Carriage and Wagon Works in 1884, and its expan- 

 sion in following years, were reflected in further substantial growth of 

 population. 



Since it became the headquarters of the North Eastern Area of the 

 London and North Eastern Railway Company, the importance of York 

 as a junction has been enhanced from a regional standpoint, while it is 

 worth recording that the whole of the main-line traffic between Don- 

 caster and Newcastle is controlled from here. 



As some indication of the part played by York as a collecting and 

 distributing area it may be noted that roughly 1,900,000 goods wagons, 

 nearly three-quarters of them laden, pass through the railway marshalling 

 yards in a year. The city itself receives 490,000 tons of rail-borne 

 goods per annum, of which the largest item is coal, and sends out 

 145,000 tons of goods a year, the details of which afford a clue to its 

 industries. The main item is refined sugar from the local factory, and 

 second to this is confectionery, which represents York's principal industry 

 apart from the railway itself ; oil-cake is another important item. The 

 first two commodities travel far afield, while the third feeds the agricultural 

 area round about. Some 6,300 wagons of livestock are also despatched 

 each year — a reflection of the fact that as a market York handles more cattle 

 than any other centre in England and Wales. 



I wish to acknowledge my debt to F. H. Graveson, Esq. (Assistant to 

 the Divisional General Manager, N.E. Area, L.N.E. Railway) ; to F. J. 

 Spalding, Esq., B.A., LL.B. (Town Clerk of York) ; and to F. Spurr, Esq. 

 (City Engineer and Surveyor of York). The work of my own students 

 has also been helpful. 



II. 



GEOLOGY 



BY 



C. E. N. BROMEHEAD, B.A. 



The immediate neighbourhood of York Is not of great interest to the 

 general geologist, since no rocks older than the glacial deposits are exposed. 

 Even to the glaciologist it has become of less interest since the last visit 



