session 1903-1904. 
xli 
Field Meeting, 16th April, 1904. 
BOURNE END AND THE VALLEY OF THE BOURNE. 
After an interval of quiescence of fourteen years the intermittent 
stream known as the Hertfordshire Bourne last flowed in 1897, 
and it was visited by the Society on the 24th of April, 1898.* On 
that occasion its flow was anticipated, and the present writer 
visited the valley twice in March before it commenced. 
In the Autumn of 1903, after nearly seven years without 
excessive rainfall, it was again apparent that a sufficient quantity 
of rain had fallen to cause the Bourne to flow, and it was surmised 
that it would commence to do so much earlier than usual. On the 
31st of October the rainfall at Weetwood, Watford, for the ten 
months of the year then elapsed, amounted to 35^ inches, of which 
7% inches fell in October. Although there is no record of an 
earlier commencement of flow in the Winter than the beginning 
of January, it was thought advisable to look out for it on this 
occasion early in November, and the valley was visited on the 7th 
of that month. There was then no sign that the stream was soon 
about to flow, not even by any considerable rise of the water in 
wells, so far as could he ascertained by enquiries, and the valley 
was not again visited for three weeks. The stream was then found 
to be running in places, not continuously, and it was ascertained 
that the flow commenced on the 15th of November. 
From that time its volume gradually increased, but it was not 
until the 1st of January that there was an unbroken stream from 
its source, then some distance above Harratt’s End Lane, to its 
discharge into the Bulbourne below Bourne End, and it attained 
its greatest volume about the end of February. It was therefore 
arranged to hold a field meeting here earlier in the year than they 
usually commence, so that the stream might he seen before any 
great diminution took place in its volume. 
A large party, chiefly consisting of members who cycled from 
Watford, assembled at Bourne End at 3 o’clock, and proceeded up 
the valley under the direction of Mr. Hopkinson, taking the route 
followed on previous visits. 
Just above the point where the stream crosses the lane up the 
valley, this lane was found to he under water and impassable, and 
for a short distance the fields had to he taken. Numerous gaps 
had been made in the hedge, as the water extended more and more 
along the lane, hut now it had been shrinking for some time, and its 
depth had much decreased since February. On arriving at Harratt’s 
End Lane it was found that, owing to the culvert under the lane 
having been choked, damage had been done to the road-surface by 
the overflow of the water impounded above it by the embankment 
made to take the road across the valley. That this would occur 
was foreseen by the writer, who had advised the clearance of this 
* See ‘ Trans. Herts Nat. Hist. Soc.,’ Yol. IX, p. lxv (1898). 
VOL. XII.—PART VIII. 
D 
