Fig. 237.—Sketch-map of Healey Dell, Rochdale.
1, birches; 2, willows; 3, beech; 4, potholes; 5, two waterfalls; 6, shallows, and vertical concave bank; 7, “Fairies’ Chapel”; 8, stratification of rocks; 9, mud deposits; 10, waterfall; 11, docks; 12, sloping trees; 17, weir; 14, railway viaduct; 15, horse chestnut; 16, aqueduct; 17, sycamore; 18, elm; 19, elm; 20, beech; 21, pond life; 22, well; 23, shale; 24, sycamore; 25, oak, bearing leaves in winter; 26, flagstones; 27, beeches, with wood-pigeons’ and magpies’ nests; 28, hawthorn hedge; 29, solitary oak; 30, gutter, with Pellia; 31, blackberry bush; 32, stunted oak.
Fig. 238.—Waterfall, Healey Dell, Rochdale
(marked “10” in [Fig. 237]).
Before the second journey each pupil should be provided with a blank sketch-map of the route. This may, in the first instance, be copied or traced from the six-inch Ordnance Map, and then duplicated in large numbers. Only the route and river, and a few of the more conspicuous landmarks, should be indicated on the maps as given to the class: details should be filled in, on the spot, by the pupils. The object of the second journey may conveniently be the study of the river and its work, and for this purpose it will be advisable to follow the stream in the direction of its flow. Variations in the speed of the current, and in the width of the stream and the hardness of the rocks or banks between which the water flows, should be noted, and the relations between cause and effect elicited by questioning. The hardness of the rocks at 4 has prevented the channel from being widened to a greater extent by the water, and accounts for the rapidity of the flow. A glass of water collected here is found to contain much suspended gravel. The considerable loss of weight of bodies in water is noteworthy, as explaining the great size of the stones which may be transported by rivers. The scouring action of such stones is shown in the fine “potholes” at 4 and below the waterfall ([Fig. 238]) at 10, and has resulted also in the quaint stone portico of the “Fairies’ Chapel” under the right (west) bank of the river at 7. Again, the difference in the rates of erosion of hard and soft rocks has had much to do with forming the waterfalls at 5 and 10. Where the stream is wider and the flow slower (as at 6 and 9, and below 10), may be noticed sand and mud deposits; and where the stream makes a bend it is found that the slowest flow and the maximum deposit are on the convex bank; while the concave bank is worn almost vertical (as at 6 and other places) by the swifter rush of the water, and may be undercut to such an extent as to cause the bank to give way. In this manner a river is constantly changing its course. The weir at 13, and the old water-wheel still to be seen in the ruined mill below, suggest remarks on the motive power of water, and on the circumstances which may cause the old industries of a district to be superseded by new ones. Along the rest of the route the bed of the river is less steep and its banks exhibit less variation, but they still afford plenty of material for study. The railway viaduct at 14 and an aqueduct at 16 suggest at least a casual reference to the derivation of the terms. Before the pupils are asked to write a “composition” on the ramble, a revision lesson on the features noticed should be given, and the accuracy of the entries on the sketch-maps checked by comparison with an enlarged map drawn by the teacher, or with a large “parish plan” of the Ordnance Survey, on the scale of 25.3 inches to the mile.
It will be well to devote two or more journeys to the study of the trees along the route. One journey should be taken in the spring, before the leaves are out, and another in the summer, when the foliage is well developed. It is far better to study three kinds of trees in some detail than to risk confusion at the beginning by attending to a dozen. In Healey Dell the commonest trees are beech, oak, and sycamore, and these serve admirably as an introduction to tree lore. If the first tree-journey be taken in the summer, the leaves of some three abundant species should be compared and contrasted, and each pupil should secure good specimens, to be drawn and preserved afterwards. The presence of a little bud in the “axil” (the upper angle between leaf and twig) of most of the leaves should be pointed out by the teacher; and since the arrangement of the buds (and therefore of the subsequent branches of the twig) thus depends on the positions of the leaves, this last point is of considerable interest. In the sycamore, the leaves are in pairs at right angles to each other; in the beech and oak they are single and alternate, but much more crowded together in the oak than in the beech. The bark of the three trees is equally distinctive, and with the method of branching (obscured when the foliage is thick) serves to identify the trees from a distance in the winter. In winter and spring the interest of a tree is centred in its buds, and there are few things which more richly repay study. In spring, attention should also be given to the flowers—generally arranged in catkins—of common trees. Separate sketch-maps should be used as records of the positions of the more notable trees or plantations along the route. Any tendency to vandalism on the part of the pupils by tearing off branches should, of course, be sternly repressed; especially interesting twigs should, on occasion, be cut off by the teacher only, for later study.
There is much diversity of opinion as to the way in which flowers may be best studied in a limited number of school journeys. In most cases it will perhaps be impracticable to attempt more than teaching the names and calling attention to the habitat of the commonest. This, though a necessary introduction to the subject, tends to degenerate into a mere exercise of the memory, and in itself possesses little educational value. It should be supplemented by a detailed examination of a typical flower—say a buttercup—and by the explanation of the work of each part. Once the pupil has understood that the single duty of a flower is the production of healthy seeds, and has been led to notice how, by the aid of ingenious devices, the up-to-date plants have learnt to call in the aid of insects, while the more conservative families still rely on the aid of the wind, he will be eager to discover for himself “how the thing works.” With young children it is folly to attempt any but the very broadest principles of classification of flowers; but quite young children can appreciate the advance from flowers without petals, through flowers with separate petals, to those with petals united to form a tube (thus restricting the nectar more and more to “useful” insects); and so understand the advantage which a primrose has over a buttercup, and a buttercup over an oak flower.