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YORKSHIRE NATURALISTS AT RIPPONDEN. 
F. A. Mason, F.R.M.S. 
A very encouraging feature of the visits of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ 
Union to areas near the Lancashire border of the county is the good 
attendance as well as the enthusiasm of local members and associates. The 
excursion to Ripponden on Saturday, 8th July, provided no exception 
to past experiences and among the naturalists with an intimate knowledge 
of the geology, flora and fauna of the district who were present on that 
occasion, were Messrs. E. Hallowell, J. H. Lumb, C. J. Spencer, C. 
Fielding, Kaye, A. Bates, Thornton, and others 
Under the guidance of Mr. Hallowell, a party, starting from the 
Triangle, Sowerby Bridge, worked up the river to Ripponden to the Old 
Bridge Inn at Ripponden where a halt was made for lunch. Thence to 
the new Rishworth Dam, recently erected by the Wakefield Corporation 
Waterworks at their compensation reservoir. Here, the main party 
was joined by an afternoon party under the leadership of Mr. J. H. 
Priestley. The nature of the work involved in building the Dam, its 
structure and functions were explained by our member, Mr. A. G. 
Beaumont (Deputy Waterworks Engineer). Although the natural 
amenities of this beautiful part of Ryburn Dale have been interfered with 
by communal and industrial demands, after the replanting and restora- 
tion of roads now in progress, it seems likely that the valley will lose 
little by the change. 
The rock garden of Mr. J. W. Barrett, at Rishworth, was visited and 
the rich collection of cacti and other interesting cultivated plants proved 
to be of considerable interest. 
A meeting was held in the evening at the Derby Inn, Rishworth, at 
which the Chair was occupied by Mr. W. P. Winter, B.Sc. Reports were 
received from Messrs. A. G. Beaumont (Geology), A. Bates and 
Thornton (Botany), F. E. Milsom (Bryology); Mr. Thornton (Vertebrate 
Zoology), F. A. Mason, and the Chairman. 
Mr. J. H. Priestley exhibited a collection of flint implements found 
in the district and made some interesting observations on their occurrence. 
He said that the thousands of microlithic flint implements found by 
himself and others on the hill tops point to their occupation at a date 
estimated at some ten to twelve thousand years. Similar tiny flint tools 
have been found in great numbers at Fere-en-Tardenois in France, and 
at Maz d’Azil on the slopes of the Pyrenees, and they can be followed 
like the trail of a paper chase from the Danube, across Europe, to North 
1933 Sept. 1 
