CiRC. 158. 



SATURDAY'S ROUTES.— 



The whole party will leave Scailjorough Station, in char-a-bancs, return fare 2/- 

 each, immediately on arrival of the 10-5 a.m. train from Leeds, etc., and the 10-25 

 a.m. train from Hull. In the evening the char-a-bancs will drive from Wykeham, 

 to Scarborough. Lord Londesborough has given permission to go over his*private 

 road tlirough Forge Valley, Rainclifife Wood, and Lady Edith's Drive ( the finest 

 drive in the locality). Members desiring a seat in the conveyance, must 

 communicate with Mr. D. W. Bevan, 32, Nansen Street, Scarborough, 

 not later than Thursday morning-, June 20th. Unless this is done a seat 

 cannot be guaranteed. 



I. — The naturalists, guided by Messrs. J. II. Rowntree and E. R. Cross, will 

 leave the conveyances at Ayton, proceed up Yedmandale, over Hutton Bushel 

 raoor, across head of Heedale, down Sawdondale, to Wykeham. 



2. — Conchologists, under the guidance of Mr. W. Gyngell, will leave the 

 conveyances at Cross Gates Quarries, and walk over Seamer Carrs, to Wykeham. 



3. — The geologists, under the leadership of Mr. J. W. Stather, F.G.S., will 

 leave the conveyances at Cross Gates Quarries, near Seamer Station, and proceed 

 l)y way of the Ayton and Yedmandale Quarries to Wykeliam. 



THE DISTRICT.— Rev. W. C. Iley, M.A., writes as follows:— If a 

 person looks from the Oolite hills across the vale of Pickering to the Wolds, the 

 only conspicuous markings on the uniform hill-slopes appear to be the white roads. 

 If, on the other hand, he stands on the Wolds, and looks to the Oolite hills, his eye 

 is at once caught by a series of dark shadowy depressions, occurring at somewhat 

 regular intervals, and marking the mouths of the various dales which eat deep into 

 the moorland mass behind them. Only one of these dales. Forge Valley, cuts 

 right through the moor. The three dales lying west of it, which form the district 

 under present investigation, are all alike in this respect ; — that after penetrating two or 

 three miles into the hill, and throwing out various arms, they eventually, by ever- 

 shallowing hollows, die out into the heathery expanse above. Though alike in this 

 respect, each dale has a character of its own. Yedmandale has unfortunately lost 

 its artificer — the stream that fasliioned it has vanished. But its work was finely 

 ■done, and the narrow ravine which extends to the left beyond the 'Jenny Spring ' 

 is the choicest bit of rock scenery in the district. Beedale is the grandest dale of 

 the three, larger in design, more imposing in effect, offering longer vistas and 

 bolder curves. In its higher parts, with the shaggy moor dipping over its edges, 

 you have one of those wild sylvan scenes which tempt you to believe in all the 

 satyrs, nymphs, and wood demons which classical mythology or Scandinavian super- 

 stition has associated with the forest. Sawdondale is the smallest and least regular 

 ■of the three dales. Its charm lies not in anything grand — but in much that is 

 pretty — the wild tangle of undergrowth, rose, bramble, and honeysuckle, the music 

 of its merry little stream, and the idyllic seclusion of its flowery nooks. 



GEOLOGY. — Tliis section will l^e officially represented liy Mr. Thos. Shep- 

 pard, F.G. S. 



Mr. J. A. Hargreaves writes: — The route selected lies entirely in the upper 

 portion of the Middle Oolites, and as there are several quarries on the way, the 

 rocks may be well seen. Crossgates quarry lies immediately below the Coral Rag, 

 and although fossils are numerous, it is almost impossible to extract them from the 

 surrounding matrix. The Seamer, Ayton, and Yedmandale quarries are in the 

 Coral Rag itself, and the beds of massive coral which formed this, the latest British 

 •coral reef, may be seen in situ, and intercorraline mollusca obtained. Cidaris 

 florigeinma is absent from this district, but Litforina, Phasianella, Ttvchotoma, 

 •etc., are common. The lower rocks of the Middle Oolites may be traced in Forge 

 Valley, but time will probably not permit of a visit. 



Glacial Geology. — Mr. Percy F. Kendall, F.G.S. , writes that the Drift 

 deposits about Wykeham are of great interest. A great mass of gravel extends 

 from East Ayton to Wykeham, forming a nearly ilat-lopped terrace, which has been 

 regarded as a beach of the lake, which in glacial times, occupied the Vale of Picker- 

 ing. The gravel contains many pebbles of Jurassic rocks, especially Corallian, and 

 Kimeridge clay, and a small number of rocks foreign to the district, such as (iranites, 

 and Cheviot porphyrites ; there are also fragments of marine shells, such as Tellina 

 haltliica. He thinks it probable that the deposit was laid down along the edge of an 

 ice-lobe which was thrust up the Vale of Pickering as far as Wykeham. The great 

 lidge of gravel which projects out into the low grounds at Wykeham Abbey 

 probably represents a fragment of a terminal moraine. 



