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THE YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS' UNION 

 AT BOROUGHBRIDGE. 



The second excursion for 1885 of the Yorkshire Naturahsts' Union was held on 

 Whit-Monday, the 25th of May, at Boroughbridge, for the purpose of investigating 

 the neighbourhood of Copgrove and Staveley, Lofftus Hill, Walkingham Hill, 

 Rigmoor, the Staveley and Roeclifife Carrs, together with such objects of anti- 

 quarian interest as the 'Devil's Arrows' and the Roman remains at Aldborough, 

 all situated south or south-west of Boroughbridge. Various routes had been 

 arranged, the chief of them starting from Copgrove Station a little before ten in the 

 forenoon, under the guidance of the Rev. E. P. Knubley, M.A., M.B.O.U., Rector 

 of Staveley, to whom — assisted by Mr. A. D. H. Leadman — the Union were 

 indebted for drawing up the circular and planning the various arrangements. He 

 first led the party to Lofftuss Hill, then to Walkingham Hill, and by Rigmoor to 

 Copgrove Woods and St. Mungo's Well in Copgrove Park. At Walkingham Plill 

 the party was reinforced by the Rev. E. Elmhirst, the Vicar of Farnham, who 

 brought with him a large number of the rarer plants of Farnham Mires, a list of 

 which was placed in the hands of the officers of the botanical section. In Copgrove 

 Park attention was called to a couple of immense larches — one of them measuring 

 12 feet 4 inches in girth at a foot above the ground, and 95 feet in height — which 

 are believed to be among the first imported into Britain. From Copgrove the walk 

 was continued to Staveley fishpond, and then by Staveley Church, and down the 

 banks of the River Tutt or Fleet Beck, across Roeclifife Carrs to the ' Devil's Arrows, ' 

 and so to Boroughbridge. The geological members diverged early from Mr. 

 Knubley's line of route, taking their way through Staveley and Minskip to Borough- 

 bridge, thence to the 'Devil's Arrows,' and afterwards spending the afternoon, 

 under the charge of Mr. A. D. H. Leadman, in examining the remains of old 

 Isurium, its tessellated pavements and Roman antiquities. Members arriving by 

 the eleven o'clock train proceeded through Staveley to join Mr. Knubley's party in 

 Copgrove Woods, and various smaller bodies of members instituted independent 

 lines of route for themselves. All, however, converged upon Boroughbridge by 

 the appointed time, where, at the Queen's Head, a substantial tea awaited them. 



Afterwards the general meeting was held- Mr. George T. Porritt, F. L. S., of 

 Huddersfield, the president of the entomological section, occupied the chair. 

 About sixty or seventy members were present, the following sixteen societies 

 being represented : — Bradford (3), Dewsbury, Doncaster, Goole, Heckmondwike, 

 Ilkley, Leeds (3), Malton, Ripon, Rotherham, Wakefield, and York. The 

 minutes of the preceding meeting having been taken as read, from pressure of 

 time, the following new members were elected : — Rev. B. R. Airy (Whitwell, near 

 York), Rev. B. Irvin, M.A. (Saltburn-by-the-Sea), Miss F. A. Penistone (Leeds), 

 and Messrs. Godfrey Bingley (Headingley), H. M. Ellis (Beverley), T. W. Green- 

 wood (Birkenshaw), H. M. Platnauer, F.G.S. (curator of York Museum), and 

 William Wyatt (Worksop, Notts.). Mr. Thomas Hick, B. A., B.Sc.,of Harrogate, 

 then proposed, and Mr. J, R. Penistone, of Leeds, seconded, a vote of thanks, to 

 which the meeting unanimously agreed. In it the Rev. E. P, Knubley, M.A., 

 and Mr. Leadman were thanked for organising the excursion and guiding parties 

 during the day ; Mrs. Shiffner, of Copgrove Hall, Captain Slingsby, of Scriven 

 Park, Mr. William C. Stobart, of Spellow Hill, and Mr. A. S. Lawson, of Ald- 

 borough Manor, for permission to visit their respective estates ; and the last-named 

 gentleman for allowing the members free access to the Roman remains at Aldborough. 

 The reports of the various sections were then taken. 



The Vertebrate section was represented by its secretary, Mr. James Back- 

 house, jun., of York, who stated that a large number of both resident and migratory 

 birds had been observed, numbering in all 53 species, whilst 20 were found breed- 

 ing (chiefly in Copgrove Park). Among the residents, the Jay, Sparrow Hawk, 

 Coot, and Stockdove were perhaps the most interesting, and the Redstart, Ring 

 Ousel, and Wood Wren among the summer visitants. The Nuthatch was, accord- 

 ing to Rev. H. H. Slater, occasionally observed near Staveley (which must form 

 almost its northern limit of distribution in Yorkshire), and the Wheatear had been 

 discovered nesting last season on the railway embankment near to Copgrove 

 Station. The mammals, fishes, reptiles, &c., observed were few in number; they 

 included a Fox-cub (dead) and the Smooth Newt. 



July 1885. 



