ioo, 



LINCOLNSHIRE NATURALISTS AT 

 SCUNTHORPE. 



HENRY PRESTON, F.G.S., 



Haivthornden Vtlla, Grantham ; Geological Secretary to the Lincolnshire 

 Natw-alists' Union. 



Considerable interest was manifested in the joint meeting- of 

 the Lincolnshire with certain members of the Yorkshire 

 Naturalists' Union, which was held at Scunthorpe, on Bank 

 Holiday, 6th August. Notwithstanding- that the weather had 

 been very unpromising for several days previous to the meeting, 

 a goodly number of ladies and gentlemen were attracted to this 

 most promising district for a day's field work. Various sections 

 for botanists and entomologists were formed, which branched 

 off from the main party at different points to make search for 

 specific finds ; most of them with definite results, as will be 

 seen from the reports sent in. 



Early in the forenoon the geological party visited the boring 

 which is being made into the New Red Sandstone for a water 

 supply for Scunthorpe and the neighbourhood. Here Mr. 

 Cobban, engineer in charge of the works, gave an account of the 

 work in progress, with full particulars of the bore up to date. 

 Mr. Preston took up the tale, and made some remarks on the 

 interesting variety there is in the geology of North Lincolnshire 

 compared with the same rock formations in the Southern half of 

 the county. 



To geologists and water engineers in particular there is no t 

 rock system in the whole geological series so full of interest as 

 the sands and pebble beds of the Bunter and Lower Keuper 

 formations of the New Red Sandstone. It is doubtful whether 

 in the whole country we have a gathering g-round capable of 

 yielding a larg-er and purer supply of water than these beds. 

 The nature of the formation itself insures its purity, while the 

 absence of limestone in the beds through which the water has to 

 percolate insures its comparative softness. The great thickness 

 of the beds, together with its large extent of outcrop, enable 

 the Bunter to yield the vast quantities of water which are daily 

 being drawn from it over such an extensive area of country. 



The Scunthorpe bore is situated at the foot of the Liassic 

 escarpment, to the west of the town. The well is 24 feet deep 

 and 8 feet in diameter, and the bore pipe 18 inches across. The 

 diameter of this pipe will be reduced as the depth increases ; 



1901 April 1. 



