448 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— E. 



applicable to other ports, of forecasting deviations from predicted tide due 

 to meteorological causes. 



Mr. A. E. Stephens. — Plymouth in the sailing ship era (11.15). 



The threefold harbour of Plymouth consists of the Hamoaze, Catwater 

 and the Sound. The value of the last named was minimised by its ex- 

 posure to the winds of greatest strength and frequency and longest ' fetch,* 

 with the direction of which its axis (N.E.-S.W.) coincided. In strong 

 south-west gales there was shelter in Cawsand Bay under Rame Head, or 

 in emergency in the Sound north of Drake's Island. Catwater, commodious 

 and land locked, was easily entered (except in south-west gales) by a channel 

 leading near the lee north side of the entry. Hamoaze, also deep, com- 

 modious and landlocked, had a narrow, sinuous entry, beset by shoals and 

 subject to strong tidal currents and eddies. 



The relative frequency of winds from the western quarter made Catwater 

 a more important commercial harbour than Hamoaze. The Hamoaze 

 settlements were relatively unimportant, except for Saltash at the head, 

 commanding cross river traffic and traffic in minerals down the Tavy. To 

 its normal trade function, Plymouth added that of ' clearing house ' for 

 naval prizes. Its commercial development was hindered by its poor and 

 restricted hinterland, but it was a haven of refuge in time of storm, to 

 vessels wind bound at the Channel entrance, or short of water and pro- 

 visions after an ocean voyage. Sufficiently remote from the continent to 

 avoid surprise attacks, and with facilities for collecting a fleet and victualling 

 an army, its safe commodious harbour was an important rendezvous for 

 foreign military expeditions. The establishment in 1689 of a Royal Dock- 

 yard in Hamoaze remedied the long-standing weakness of an English fleet 

 centred only on the south-east coast. The absence of settlements was an 

 advantage and the difficult entry to Hamoaze was a natural protection against 

 foreign attack, although coupled with the exposure of the Sound it rendered 

 Plymouth inferior to Portsmouth as a main fleet rendezvous. The original 

 yard was designed to repair cruising vessels only, but, gradually enlarged, it 

 could build and repair all classes of vessels. Not until more than fifty years 

 after its foundation were land works for its protection begun, and until 

 steamships introduced the possibility of surprise attack, the protection 

 offered by the fleet was always considered more important. 



Mr. G. Hayes and Miss M. Chriss. — The Mersey entrance (11.45). 



Early history of the Mersey entrance and effects of subsidence of the 

 litoral. Origins and formation of the sand banks and coastal sand hills. 

 State of the harbour at end of the seventeenth century : the ' Formby ' 

 channel. Eighteenth-century changes and the disappearance of some 

 neighbouring harbours. The ' New ' channel. Successive surveys from 

 early nineteenth century to 19 14. Revetments and training walls. Further 

 surveys to 1938. Navigational aids. The Bar and its immediate future. 



Mr. W. G. East. — The Number and Humberside in historical times 



(12.15)- 

 This paper renews the inquiry into the former physical conditions of 

 the Humber, about which much has already been written, though several 

 problems remain obscure. Prehistoric forests were submerged, new land 

 was formed in recent centuries through ' warping,' and mediaeval settle- 

 ments disappeared through inundation during a period of excessive storms 



