AND RECENT GRAVELS NEAR MANCHESTER. 461 



ground along the Manchester road to Fallowfield. From 

 this it trends westward to Hulme, on the south side of 

 Manchester, and is hounded by the valley of the Irwell. 

 It occupies the whole of the flat country between the two 

 rivers,, Irwell and Mersey, from Trafford Park to Stretford. 

 At Eccles and Fatricroft it may be found resting sometimes 

 on the New Red Sandstone, sometimes on the Lower Till, 

 and it stretches westward by Barton Moss to Higher 

 Irlam. 



South of the Mersey it occupies the level plain, which is 

 a constant subject of remark to all who travel by the rail- 

 way to Altrincham; and the villages of Timperly, Sale, 

 Ashton-on-Mersey, Carrington, and Warburton are all 

 built on this old terrace. Beyond this I have not traced 

 it westward. It probably disappears at Lymn, owing to 

 the steepness of the banks along the south side of the river. 

 On the north bank, however, it will probably be found 

 between HoUinfare and Warrington. The thickness of 

 this gravel is seldom more than from 6 to lo feet; and 

 over the greater part of the district described it rests upon 

 the Lower Boulder- clay. 



The breadth of this terrace in some places is several 

 miles. As it extends very nearly from Worsley in the 

 north to Altrincham in the south, the breadth is here seven 

 miles. Below this terrace the present river- valleys are 

 hollowed to a depth of 50 or 60 feet ; and I have no doubt 

 the land was lower at least by that amount at the time of 

 its formation. The most probable explanation of the origin 

 of this gravel-bed is to suppose that the tides extended as far 

 up as Manchester and Didsbury, and that the waters of the 

 two rivers, having only a very slight fall, often during heavy 

 floods covered the whole plain now formed of the gravel. 



