AS SOURCES OF WATER-SUPPLY FOR TOWNS. 175 



pebble-beds of the New Red Sandstone here rest imme- 

 diately upon the Lower Permian sandstone, and the thick- 

 ness of the water-bearing strata is therefore very great, 

 probably not less than looo feet in many parts. Few 

 towns seem better situated for drawing their water-supply 

 from these rocks, which must be highly charged. A 

 copious spring bursts forth in the bed of the Mersey, about 

 a mile above the town, out of the Lower Permian sand- 

 stone. 



The town of Cheadle in Staffordshire is supplied from 

 a well sunk in an outlier of New Red conglomerate of 

 about a square mile in extent, which rises to a height of 

 about 150 feet at the back of the town. Doubts were ex- 

 pressed at the commencement of the undertaking whether 

 a sufficient supply could be obtained from an area of so 

 small an extent, which is also partly drained by springs, 

 bursting forth round the base of the hill, at the junction 

 of the sandstone and coal-measures. The supply, how- 

 ever, has proved sufficient. 



The last instance I shall adduce has reference to springs 

 in the neighbourhood of Leek. This town is built upon 

 the north end of a long tongue of New Red Conglomerate, 

 which lies in an old trough of Carboniferous Rocks. The 

 town itself is supplied from surface-water collected on the 

 moors to the north of the town, but to the south of the 

 town a splendid spring bursts forth from a knoll of New 

 Red Sandstone, from which all the pottery towns, except 

 Longton, Fenton, and Stoke, are supplied. A descrip- 

 tion of this spring is given by Mr. T. Wardle*, F.G.S. 

 The water is pumped by engines from the valley up to 

 Ladderedge Reservoir, a height of 287 feet, and is distri- 

 buted by pipes to the various towns. The engines are 

 capable of pumping 3,000,000 gallons into the reservoir 

 daily; and Mr. Elliot, the engineer, considers that the 



* Geology of Leek, p. 263. 



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