5°3 EXCURSION TO MALVERN AND DISTRICT. WHITSUNTIDE, JUNE 2ND TO JUNE 5TH, 1900. Director: PROF. THEODORE T. GROOM, M.A., D.Se., F.G.S. Excursion Secretary: A. C. YOUNG, F.C.S. (Report by THE DIRECTOR.) Saturday, .June 2nd.·-The excursion commenced with a. walk along the eastern side of North Hill to the large quarry above Malvern Link. The faulted and slickensided undulating surface of the Archsean massif was seen to be admirably exposed, and showed in places a coating of fault-breccia composed chiefly of irregular pieces of Archeean rock set in a reddish paste of Triassic material. The Archeean itself here, it was pointed out, consisted chiefly of diorite with intrusive veins of granite. The latter rock seemed to have very thoroughly penetrated and mingled with the former, a process resulting in the production of a rock of thoroughly mixed character. Many hand specimens were obtained showing the most intimate inter-penetration of the two ingredients. Passing up the depression containing the covered reservoir of the Malvern waterworks, similar close relations between the aplite and a variety (hornblendite) of the diorite, consisting largely of hornblende, were observed in loose blocks which had fallen down the slopes. At the top of the hill the haze precluded enjoyment of the whole of the wide panorama to be seen from this point, but during the descent to West Malvern the chief features of the picturesque country to the west were admirably seen. The May Hill Sand­ stone formed the slope in the immediate foreground. The Woolhope Limestone at or near the foot of this slope formed no very marked feature, but the Wenlock and Lower Ludlow Shales formed vales on either side of the gently rising escarpment of Wenlock Limestone, while the Aymestry Limestone with its peculiar S-like curve rose up into a sharper ridge beyond; and after dipping down beneath the Old Red Sandstone syncline of Colwall, reappeared again as a fine escarpment near Ledbury. The party next proceeded to the line of the great western fault bounding the Archrean, and fine blocks of Miss Phillips' con­ glomerate with Stricklandinia and Lindstromia were discovered behind the houses west of Sugar Loaf Hill. It was here pointed out that although many of the fragments in the conglomerate closely resembled those of the adjacent hills, the latter were probably buried by the conglomerate, and a considerable propor­ tion of the pebbles must have come from some neighbouring PROC. GEOL. Assoc., VOL. XVI, PART 10, NOVEMBER, 19°°.' EXCURSION TO MALVERN AND DISTRICT. W.bYS. ,"M'')'/.'M,ll ws is 1= [Scale: 3 incheseer mile.] FIG. I.-SECTION ACROSS THE MALVERN RANGE IMMEDIATELY NORTH OF THE DINGLE. S.W. N.R. Great Vinyard High Wood. Cowleigh Wood. Park. 1; I I I I LHorizontal scale: 3 inchesee r rnile.] FIG. 2.-SECTION ACROSS COWLEIGH PARK AND HIGH WOOD. TR. Trias. MS•. Upper Beds of May Hill SH. Wenlock, or Lower Ludlow Sandstone. Shale. MS i- Lower Beds of May Hill WL•. Wenlock Limestone. Sandstone. WS. Wenlock Shale. Q. Cambrian Quartzite. WL,. Woolhope Limestone. Arch. Archeean. TS. Tarannon Shale. FF. Faults. High Wood W.byS. E.byJll. , F~ WS WLjTS FIG. 3.-SECTION ACROSS HIGH WOOD AND NORTH Tr. Trias. M5,. Lower Beds of May Hill WS. Wenlock Shale, Sandstone. WL,. Woolhope Limestone. BS. Black Shales. TS. Tarannon Shale. Arch. Archeean. MS •. Upper Beds of May Hill FF. Faults. Sandstone. (Figs. I--7 reprinted, by permission, from tke Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, uois, I'll. and Ivi.) EXCURSION TO MALVERN AND DISTRICT. 505 source. In the quarries on each side of the Dingle, or the depression between Sugar Loaf Hill (the south-western elevation of North Hill) and the Worcestershire Beacon, the May Hill beds, imperfectly revealed, were seen resting against the Archsean, In the quarry above, complex relations between the diorite and aplite were again seen. Here the aplite appeared to have been intruded into the previously foliated diorite, and both rocks to have been sheared by subsequent movements. The day's work was completed by a visit to the May Hill conglomerates and the Archsean of Cowleigh Park. Specimens were collected from the presumed Cambrian quartzite, which was found, after a short search, almost covered with vegetation. On Monday, June 4th, about fifty of the party drove from Great Malvern along the eastern side of the range to the Gullet Pass (between Swinyard and Midsummer Hills). On the way attention was drawn to the sharply defined eastern boundary of the hills, and to the peculiar way in which the cwms end at their faulted junction with the Trias. In the quarry at the southern end of Swinyard Hill the struc­ ture termed "plagioclinal" by Dr. Callaway was discussed, and the view was maintained that in pre-Cambrian times the western midlands were occupied by an old mountain land, the folds of which ran more or less transversely to the trend of the present Malvern Hills, and that denudation had levelled the tract, which later became a sea-floor, the component rocks of which, striking across the meridian, had been. covered unconformably by the Cambrian sediments. The Archeean core of the present Malverns might be regarded as a part of this old floor, thrust up in Car­ boniferous times and then denuded. In a small quarry higher up the Gullet Pass the small faulted strip of Hollybush quartzite and conglomerate was seen, and specimens of Kutorgina phillipsii, Holl., and an Obolella were collected. Many pebbles of metamorphic quartzite, pink grano­ phyre, variously tinted rhyolites, etc., were obtained from the conglomeritic layers, and it was argued that though these materials bore a general resemblance to certain rocks ofthe present Malverns, the balance of evidence indicated derivation from some other source. After lunching at the quarry the party proceeded to the ancient camp at the top of Midsummer Hill, whence a magnificent view of the surrounding country rewarded the climbers; the Clee Hills, the Lickey, the Cots wolds, May Hill, the Forest of Dean, and many of the distant Welsh mountains being visible. On the descent of the central depression of the hill, marking the shattered infold of Cambrian and Silurian rocks, lack of time prevented an extended search for debris of these rocks, but fragments were picked up on the way, and the May Hill Sandstone was seen in situ in the Hollybush Pass. en o 0\ S.W. N.E. t'j o>< lligh,Wooc1 CoaliHilI c: :>:len i i l o Z o'"' ::::;.­ r­ [Scale: 6 inchesee r mile.] < t"l FIG. 4.-SECTIO N ACROSS THE SOUT HER N PART OF RAGGEDSTON Ii HILL. :>:l Z ;.­ F'F'. Fault between Archaean and i, Coal Hi ll igneous band. e. White-leaved Oak igneous band. Z t:1 T rias. h. Lower Grey Shales. d. Lower Black Shales. ~ FF. Faults. g. Igneous band at the base of the c. H ollybush Sand stone. en \. T rias. Grey Shales. b. Hollybush Conglomerate . ;;j n k, May H ill Beds. f. Up per Black Shales. a. Archaean. ;'l j . U pper Grey Shales. EXCURSION TO MALVERN AND DISTRICT. s.w. HDllybu.h"'Sand.'DnB. with LimB,tDn. (L) FIG. S.-SECTION ACROSS THE SOUTH·WESTERN PART OF R AGGEDSTO NE HILL. Mid· summer H ollybush Hill. Hill. w. ~, ,, ,, b F IG. 6.-SECTI ON ACROSS M IDSUM MER AND H OLL YBUSiI H IL LS. FF. Faul ts. d. Black Shales (Cambrian). h. Trias. c. Hollybush Sandstone. g. May Hill Sandstone. b. Hollybush Quartzite. f. Grey Shales (Cam brian). a. Archeean, e. Igneous rocks in Black Shales. [S cale : 4! incheseat mile.] FIG. 7 -SECTION OF TH E R ANGE ALO NG THE LINE OF THE M ALVERN T UNNEL. rr. Railway level. e. Wenlock Shale. F'F'. Fa ult between Trias and Archeean. d. Woolhope Limestone. FF . Faults. c. Tarann on Shales. g. Breccia. b. May Hill Sand stone . f. Trias. a. Archaean. 508 EXCURSION TO MALVERN AND DISTRICT. Crossing the dyke in the Hollybush Sandstone, on the northern slope of the Raggedstone, the party proceeded to the picturesque district of White-leaved Oak. Here the chief features of the area of Cambrian rocks were pointed out, and examples of Sphcerophthalmus alatus, Breck, and Ctenopygebisulcata, Phil., etc., were collected by many of the party from the inverted black Upper Cambrian shales, but the small size of the exposures and their overgrown condition made the discovery of fossils a matter, of some difficulty. Owing to the lateness of the hour a short time only could be devoted to the large quarry close to the village, but the junction of the Hollybush Sandstone and Archsean was examined before returning to Hollybush. Afterwards a visit was paid to the dyke in the Hollybush Sandstone at the south-western corner of Midsummer Hill. On Tuesday, June 5th, train was taken to Ledbury, where, after walking over the broken anticline of Ludlow rocks, an examination was made of the Lower Ludlow Shales at the eastern end of the tunnel. Many fossils, including Trilobites, Orthocera­ tites, Brachiopods, and Corals were collected. The party then, retracing their steps, visited a quarry in the Aymestry Limestone, the high westerly inclination of which, like that of the passage beds from the Silurian into the Old Red Sand­ stone, illustrated the steep nature of the western side of the small anticlines in this district. At the station, owing to a recent cutting back of the western end of the tunnel, the Ledbury Shales (passage beds) were once more well revealed, and fine specimens of Lingula were obtained from a green band at the eastern end of the cutting.