BOTANY 



Compared with South Lancashire or any other division of West Lancashire 

 this is the most interesting botanical district. It is more varied geologically 

 than the other parts, and its numerous woods, scars, and crags, its hills and 

 glens, its tarns, limestone pavements, and ' pot holes ' are the homes of many 

 uncommon plants. The highest ground is 2,050 feet. 



2. East Division. — Consists of elevated, bleak and barren moorlands, 

 intersected by deep wooded glens or doughs, each with its stream of sparkHng 

 water derived from extensive spongy peat-beds, which are fed by frequent 

 rains and cloud fog. The remainder of this division is less interesting, 

 consisting of upland pastures with some low land on the banks of the rivers. 

 The strata are almost entirely composed of the Yoredale series (grits and 

 calcareous shales) and Millstone grit. The highest ground is Wardstone 

 (1,836 feet). There are only small patches of limestone near Chipping and 

 Whitewell. 



3. West Division presents a marked contrast to those already dealt with. 

 It consists of a nearly level plain, termed the Fylde (or garden) lying between 

 the estuaries of the Lune and Ribble, and intersected about midway by the 

 Wyre. Its highest ground is not anywhere more than 130 feet, and usually 

 only from 25 to 60 feet. 



The shale consists principally of Permian sandstone and Triassic marl, 

 generally overlaid with glacial drift, and in the northern and central portions 

 are the scanty remains of what was formerly an immense peat-moss. This 

 has been extensively reclaimed and the greater part of this division is 

 now highly cultivated. The coast-line exhibits muddy salt marshes and sand- 

 dunes resembling those of South Lancashire (V.C. 59) and Cheshire (V.C. 58). 

 These aboriginal features are rapidly disappearing before the operations of the 

 builder and agriculturist and the extension of foreshore improvements by 

 various watering places. To the north of Blackpool are low cliifs of glacial 

 drift. The more interesting plants are those of the dunes, salt-marshes, and 

 peat-mosses. 



V.C. 69. Lake Lancashire (without Westmorland), all the county 

 north of Morecambe Bay. — On the west it is separated from Cumberland by 

 the Duddon, the same river and the Brathay and part of Elter Water are its 

 northern boundary, dividing it from Cumberland and Westmorland, thence 

 the boundary southwards is along the west shore of Windermere, then up the 

 east shore for four miles. It then turns eastwards for a mile and a half, and 

 then southwards, following the river Winster to Lindale, crossing the river 

 twice. The boundary runs south to Morecambe Bay, a mile to the east of 

 Grange, and half a mile to the west of the Winster mouth, having Westmor- 

 land all along its eastern border. Walney Isle on the south-west, opposite 

 Barrow, is included in this vice-county. This part of Lancashire is almost an 

 island, the two rivers Duddon and Brathay rising near the three-shire stone. 



The highest ground is Coniston Old Man, 2,633 feet. Two of the 

 Seathwaite fells are over 2,500 feet. All the fells about Coniston, from the 

 northern boundary of the vice-county to Broughton and Waterhead, are 

 composed of middle slates; there are no exposures of granite as in Cumberland 

 (Skiddaw, etc.) . The south-eastern boundary of these slates is marked by a variable 

 band of Umestone (only partially calcareous) , dark in colour and intermingled 

 with beds of shale. These rocks belong to the Lower Silurian system. To 



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