SELBORNE SOCIEU’ XOTICES 
197 
donations from the following: Frank Williams, Esq., £l is. ; Henry Wellcome, 
Esq., £1 ; J. R. Bell, Esq., 5s. ; T. O. Jones, Esq., 5s. 
EXCURSIONS. 
Saturday , July 25. — A very pleasant visit was paid to the Brent Valley Bird 
Sanctuary, at which over fifty members attended. The nesting season being 
practically over, very few nests were seen, but sufficient deserted nests were found 
to give members a good idea of the wealth of bird-life that the wood contains. 
Great quantities of flowers and berries were to be had, and the visitors thoroughly 
enjoyed the picnic tea. The sylvan beauty of the Sanctuary charmed every 
beholder. Thanks are especially due to Mrs. Wilfred Mark Webb, who very 
kindly made all the arrangements for providing the tea. 
Saturday, August 8. — Favoured by fine weather a party of fourteen, led by 
Mr. George Watts, left Rickmansworth Station at 3.30 p.m. Proceeding at first by 
field-paths and then through Loudwater Park, they reached the White Horse, 
Chorley Wood Common, where tea awaited the ramblers. Some time was then 
spent on the Common, the return journey being made by way of Jenkin’s Farm, 
through the woods, and past Mill End. The magnificent views usually obtained 
en route were somewhat marred by the haze, otherwise the walk, which afforded 
a considerable amount of interesting material, including some very fine specimens 
of ragwort, agrimony, and mullein, was very pleasant. 
Saturday, August 15. — On this date the guide w’as Mr. K. W. Mumfotd, and 
starting from Wrotham Station at 2.30 p.m. he first led the party to the Ightham 
fissures. After explaining that there are other things in the parish besides ‘ ‘ eoliths,” 
the guide went on to point out the main points ot interest in these renowned trea- 
suries. These large faults contain remains of almost every age, though mostly late 
Pleistocene ; sometimes quite near the surface a bone of a much earlier period, but 
never an implement of flint. The Siberian and Russian Picas {Lagomys pusillus) 
have been here, also Microtus batticeps and M. gregalis, while in the same deposit 
the Arctic Fox {Canis lagopus) and a Spotted Hyrena, (Hycena crocuta) animals 
that to-day live in such widely separated regions and climates as those of Iceland 
and equatorial Africa. Another interesting animal is Microtits nivalis, a speci- 
men of which the guide showed to the party, at the same time describing the use 
this small rodent had been in the modification of the glacial theory. 
A short walk was taken along the earliest disused bed of the Shode, and yet 
another finished-with gorge was shown. A probable reason given for these old 
beds was that they were themselves formed at the same time as the neighbouring 
fissures and thereby afforded the “ young river ” a ready-made bed. This pheno- 
menon must have occurred at least twice. The river now flows down towards 
Plaxlol in one of the most picturesque valleys of South-east England. Here it 
was that the members of the party saw the beautiful Kingfisher (Alcedo ispida). 
“ Procul negotiis, solulus omni JcsnoreJ as Horace has it, was now the motto 
of all. The next move was to the Rock Shelters and a short review was made, 
with Mr. Rudler’s assistance, from the time when palaeolithic man may have 
first hewn the natural rocky surface into dwellings to secure him from his many 
dangerous foes, till later, when neolithic man without doubt used these unique 
“ shelters” as a riverside dwelling to which he could well convey necessities home 
by rafts upon the waters of the useful Shode. The guide took down some 
neolithic knives from his collection and explained the probable uses they were 
put to. The old Edgware Road was almost wholly built of “ Ightham stone ” 
from this spot. 
Tea was next partaken of at the “ George and Dragon,” an inn where Queen 
Elizabeth is said to have spent two nights during one week on her way to and 
from Tilbury, which place is 13 miles distant. 
The church was next visited : one fine brass still remains under the mat in 
the centre aisle: it is of a Jane Dirkin, and dates back to the early fourteenth 
century. The bust of Dame Selby is to be seen in the east end wall over a tablet 
explaining how this lady betrayed the Gunpowder Plot to Lord Monteagle ; and 
an effigy of one of the Cawne family, former owners of the Mote, caused much 
interest, as did also another of two recumbent figures of members of the Selby 
