328 pkesident's address. 



The Second Field Meeting of the year took place on "Wed- 

 nesday, Thursday, and Friday, the 24th, 25th, and 26th of June, 

 in Upper "Wensleydale ; but, owing to very wet weather for 

 some time immediately before the 24th, and also upon that day, 

 only a small number of members attended. Some of those who 

 were present found their way to the King's Arms Hotel, Askrigg, 

 previous to the morning of the 24th. This, the first day of the 

 meeting, was very stormy and wet. A strong J^.E. wind with 

 continuous rain confined the party for the greater part of the 

 day to the shelter of the "King's Arms." The old mansion 

 Nappa Hall, about a mile "and a half down the valley from 

 Askrigg, was visited by some of the party during the morning. 

 This interesting old hall, now used as a commodious farm-house, 

 is in a state of fair preservation considering its age and altered 

 circumstances. It dates from the fifteenth century, having been 

 built in the reign of King Henry YI., and was then the seat of 

 a family of the name of Metcalfe. In the following century 

 Mary Queen of Scots, whilst in the custody of Lord Scrope, at 

 Bolton Castle, in Wensleydale, in 1568-9, paid Sir Christopher 

 Metcalfe a visit and remained two days a guest at I^appa Hall. 

 The stormy weather somewhat moderating in the afternoon, the 

 waterfalls of Mill Gill and Whitfield Gill, both within a mile of 

 Askrigg, on Cogill Beck, were visited, and being swollen by the 

 heavy rain were seen to advantage. Measurements of Whitfield 

 Gill Fall were on the following Saturday morning made by two 

 members of the Club before leaving Askrigg. The fall had by 

 this time "run in." The height ascertained was 72 ft. 6 in. : 

 the breadth, 42 ft. When seen on the 24th there would be a 

 nearly uniform depth of between two and three feet of water, 

 42 ft. in width, falling unbroken from the ledge of rock which 

 forms the bed of the stream and over which the water falls. 

 On the Saturday morning (the 27th) the volume of water was 

 so small that the same two members of the Club, the President 

 and Mr. F. Spence, who made the measurements, bathing in 

 the pool at the bottom of the fall, were able to go under the 

 then heaviest part of it. They reported that the sensation pro- 

 duced by the smaller spray falling upon them from this height, 



