below the thin seams of coal, were impressions of stems,
roots and even leaves of primitive plants. Some very
fine examples were photographed and collected.
That was the last place we visited, and from here
members left for home. Our thanks go to the two who did
so much to make the weekend so pleasant and profitable.
To Peter Allen who laid out our routes and was a mine of
verbal information, and to Ron Coates who did all the
administration and prepared a mammoth hand-out on Derbyshire
Geology. Their efforts were very much appreciated.
Roy Masefield
June 6th. General Meeting No. 1173.
Fifteen members met at the end of the Roman road
leading over the Gog Magog Hills near Cambridge, on a dull,
cool and not very promising day.
The morning was spent walking along the track of the
Roman road, which is now a rough path with wide verges.
These were very rewarding botanically, giving us a variety
of plants typical of the chalk. The perennial flax
(Linum perenne) was soon found, and the much more rare
purple milk vetch (Astragalus dariicus). The hoary plantain
(Plantago media), with quite showy pale lavender flower-
heads, was common here, as was also the wild mignonette
(Reseda lutea), the great knapweed (Centaurea scabiosa),
quaking grass (Briza media), yellow rattle (Rhinanthus sp.)
and bladder campion (Silene vulgaris).
Among the birds noted were skylark, corn bunting,
black-cap and willow warbler.
In the afternoon, we could not visit the Cambridge
Botanic Gardens, as had been intended, for these are closed
on Sundays to the public, so we went to Wandlebury Hill
Fort, on the other side of the Gog Magog Hills. It is
the site of an iron age hill fort dating from the third
century B.C. The 1,000 ft. diameter space is enclosed
by a wide ditch, still quite deep. More recently a
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