45 



THE YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS' UNION 

 AT WELTON VALE. 



The 69th meeting of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union was held on 

 the 27th of August last, at the pleasant little village of Welton (near 

 Brough), for the exploration of Welton Vale, a picturesque little 

 valley excavated in the Wolds. Permission had been kindly granted 

 by Mr. W. H. H. Broadley for members to wander freely over his 

 estates. The excursion was well attended by East Riding members 

 and favoured by brilliantly fine, not to say sultry weather. No 

 stated parties were arranged, the field of investigation being so 

 circumscribed, but the members present found the best of guidance 

 at the hands of Mr. E. A. Peak, the superintendent of the Hull parks, 

 who is well acquainted with the plants of the district, and of Mr. F. 

 Fielder Walton of Hull, who was equally familiar with its geological 

 characteristics. Swanland Dale was included in the investigation, 

 and also the small valley called Wold Dale. 



All the members re-assembled in the afternoon at the Green 

 Dragon Hotel at V/elton, where they were well catered for, 



Aftea tea the usual meetings were held. At the general meeting, 

 in the absence of all the vice-presidents, Mr. Thomas Bunker of 

 Goole was chosen to fill the chair. The minutes of the Sedbergh 

 meeting having been read and confirmed, the Scarborough Philo- 

 sophical and Archaeological Society was unanimously admitted into 

 the Union — and Mr. John Handley, of Briggflatts near Sedbergh, was 

 elected a member. Thanks were then voted to Mr, Broadley and to 

 Captain Burstall for permission to visit their estates; to Messrs. E. 

 A. Peak and F. F. Walton for their services as guides ; and to Mr. 

 Bunker for presiding. The Sectional Reports were then given. 



For the Vertebrate Section its secretary, Mr. James Backhouse, 

 jun., M.B.O.U., York, reported that on account of the smallness of 

 the number of observers and the scarcity of migrants, there were very 

 few birds seen. 



For the Conchological Section, too, for Vvdiich Mr. J. Darker 

 Butterell, of Beverley, secretary of the section, reported, there were 

 only very few species recorded, the reason in this case being the long- 

 continued drought of the season and the dryness of the soil on the 

 day of investigation. Claiisilia lamiiiata and its var. albida, C. 

 ritgosa, Helix virgafa, etc., were collected, and Plaiwrbis albus was 

 collected in its old locality — the pond at the entrance to the dale. 



The Entomological Section — strange to say for so favourable a 

 district and such fine weather — was not represented, further than that 



Feb. 1888. D 



