24 PEESIDENTIAL ADDEESS, 



Two days before our visit a severe thunderstorm (drawn per- 

 haps by the elevation of the place in this direction) had passed 

 over the village, and from the clean-washed appearance of the 

 main street, and the extensive accumulation of mud and dirt in 

 the lowest part, a perfect deluge of rain must have washed the 

 place from one end to the other. 



Judging from the rooms of the hotel in which we met, and 

 the size and appearance of many of the houses and the great 

 width of the main street, it would be inferred that Bedlington 

 in former years had seen better days — perhaps long ago, when 

 it was the chief place of the district to which it formerly gave 

 a name, Bedlingtonshire. The Bishop of Durham in ancient 

 times possessed a mansion here. St. Cuthbert's body is said to 

 have rested at Bedlington on its way from the Tweed towards 

 Durham. 



Those who had been all the fine spring afternoon wandering 

 through fields and pastures new were able to enjoy a comfort- 

 able tea in the best inn the place could afford, and afterwards 

 through heavy rain they had to make the best way they could 

 to the railway station, in order to catch the last train to New- 

 castle. Yet all were gratified, if not much enriched with 

 specimens, by their visit to a district which was to most of the 

 party quite new or known only in name. 



Second Pield Meeting. — On the 24th June the members 

 mustered in some numbers at Castle Eden Station, for the ex- 

 ploration of their old favourite resort Castle Eden Dene, opened 

 to them by Mr. Burdon. Mr. Howse's detachment explored the 

 geology of the district of Heddon and Hutton Henry, south of 

 the Castle Eden. The large portion of the party roamed down 

 the Dene, under the guidance of the President and Mr. G. Baker 

 Eorster, as far as the shore, and returned to the Station Inn in 

 the afternoon. Their researches, though very enjoyable, could 

 not be expected to produce any novelties in a so thoroughly 

 beaten field, and the objects of interest were chiefly botanical. 

 It was noticed with regret that the local butterfly Erehia hlandina 

 seems to be almost extinct in its former habitat ; and the other 



