PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 407 



east of Thirsk, are very desirable to throw light on the sub- 

 ject. 



The Dunston Excavations are made in a portion of the well- 

 known Team Valley Works, for the purposes of the erection of 

 the Co-operative Mills near the river Tyne. The Boulder clay 

 is met with here sometimes at a depth of 60 or 70 feet, the 

 deposits above it being brick-earth, sands, loams, etc. These 

 include thin beds of fresh- water mussels (Anodon), and innumer- 

 able branches, snags, and portions of trunks of trees — oak, 

 ash (?), alder, etc. The most interesting find, however, is a 

 portion of a wooden canoe, the prow, well-shaped and excavated 

 out of a single piece of timber. 



The Last Field Meeting was held at South Shields and 

 Marsden, on Friday, October the 5th. Only a few members 

 attended — the unsettled state of the weather influencing, no 

 doubt, the attendance on this as on many other Marsden meet- 

 ings ; yet the day turned out not so unfavourable, and those 

 who ventured reaped the enjoyment often allotted to the brave 

 and unweatherwise, and the short excursion from Shields to 

 Marsden was found to be nearly as enjoyable as in days of yore. 

 Before proceeding along the coast the party paid a visit to the 

 Borough Free Museum, where, under the guidance of Mr. John 

 Hinde, they were shown the most noteworthy of the remains 

 found in the excavations of the remarkable Roman Camp on 

 Shields Lawe, which was afterwards visited by the excursionists. 



Shields Lawe is a huge mound of boulder clay and glacial 

 drift, attaining an elevation at the site of the Roman Camp of 

 about 80 feet, and in the time of the Romans would form an 

 isolated mound, fortified naturally on the north by the Tyne 

 and steep clay-cliffs, which swept well round to the east and 

 south. On this side a tidal river, from the sea to the Tyne, 

 would partially protect it or allow it to be easily protected on 

 the south and west. This mound is situated on the north side 

 of the great, original valley of the Tyne, which extended from 

 the Tynemouth Cliffs to the Trou Rocks, two miles direct. No 

 ungainly ballast-hills then disfigured the banks of the noble 



d2 



