Ice on Bala Lake

Thames Frost Fair early 19th Century

Thomas kept precise and unfailing records of the weather, but in February 1895 there was much to report. His temperature records are, of course in Fahrenheit.

Friday the 22^nd some severe frost during the week–20° on the 18^th, 11° on the 19^th, 13° on the 20^th, 15° on the 21^st, 19 ½° on this the 22^nd.  Frances, the children and myself have had colds for three weeks; they have left us now. We have not been at church for several Sundays.

Saturday the 23^rd. Frances, Francie, Carrie, Millie, and myself went to Bala by the 3.16 train to see the lake frozen over.  It was a strange sight to see such an extent of water frozen over– say between three and 4 miles in length, and three quarters of a mile in width.  We stood for a few minutes on the bank at the North East end of it to view the scene. There were many people on it some skating, some walking about, and a large party playing at hockey on skates.  The snow covered the slopes of the surrounding hills, which  made it look very wintry. But at the time it was rather pleasant, for there was a slight thaw. The scene reminded one of a fair or suchlike. It was so very strange to see the smooth expanse of level ground where I have often seen wild waves rolling along before the winds.  We met Henry on the ice and we all walked about for about an hour. The little ones were sliding part of the time. The ice seems to be very solid and quite strong enough for any ordinary weight. I found a hole broken through it in one place and the ice was about 4 inches in thickness. It averages six or 9 inches over most of it. It is a rough ice, much spotted with white specks and has huge cracks all over it.  There were fewer people there today than usual owing to it being market day at Bala.  I met several people I knew such as Mr Evans, Master of the Grammar School, Mr. Gracie, Mr Owen of the White Lion Hotel etc. and Mr Owen told me he drove over the lower end of the lake on Thursday in his dogcart and a tandem. He zigzagged it afterwards towards Eryl Aran and back again to the lower end.  He, the tandem and people were photographed on the ice. 

This is quite extraordinary as there had been a fatality on the frozen lake on February 19th, reported in at least one newspaper. From the Montgomeryshire Express, Tuesday 19th February 1895:

 Nevertheless, the local population, including the Ruddy Family, seemed undaunted: Several people have skated and walked all the way to the upper end of the lake, and bicycles are frequently running over the ice. There was much of the lake frozen over in January 1881, and in the winter of 18 60–61 too, that there has not been such ice on it as it presents since the winter of 1854–55.  That was the time of the Crimean war. I am told by Mr Peter Jones of Bryntirion that he was taken across the lake that Winter from near Llangower to Bala.  There was a very deep snow that winter and it covered the ground for weeks.

There is not much ice on the Dee, but the river Tryweryn was frozen over from near Rhiwlas to the junction.

We were all very pleased to be on the ice for we may never see such a scene again. We were about three quarters of a mile from the east shore of it.  I never saw such an extent of ice before; and Frances has hardly ever been on any frozen water.

Henry went right across it twice and back on Wednesday afternoon.

Despite Thomas’ report that photographs were taken, I have been unable to find one online. Instead I give you one of my favourite pictures!

Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Lock by Sir Henry Raeburn (about 1784)

Raeburn painted his Skating Minister 100 years before the Bala skaters had fun on the ice.

Friendships in Geology 1894

St Nicholas Church Blundellsands, the area laid out by Thomas Mellard Reade

Although the major all-consuming interest in Geology which had marked Thomas’ early and middle years had somewhat given way to family concerns, and an ever widening interest in a number of natural history and historical/archaeological topics, in 1894, his fifty second year, Thomas continued to increase his circle of friendships with amateur geologists. His collection of fossils seems to have continued to be on permanent display in the ‘Fruit Room’, and callers both local and from further away visited to view them. Such visitors were usually also treated to a viewing of Thomas’ other collections, dried botanical species, birds’ eggs (alas!), coins and archaeological artefacts, many of which were brought to him by interested local to be added to the collections. Sir Henry Robertson seems to have been pleased to bring his guests to view the unusual and unexpected display.

There is little or no mention in the journals of the 1990’s of the Chester Society for Natural Science and its President, Professor Thomas McKenny Hughes, the researches around the identification of the Silurian strata of the Bala having been largely resolved, and the Society and its related Scientific Associations locally having moved on in their interests. Some of the members of the Chester Society who had most encouraged Thomas were elderly. His particular friend, George Shrubsole had died in July 1893.

However, it is clear that Thomas was in correspondence with a number of amateur geologists, probably because he had access to the Journal of the Geological Association – although he does not mention this point. I have already referred to his friendship with and assistance to A.C. Nicholson of Oswestry, whose paper on glacial drift inspired Thomas’ own researches in the local area.

In February 1894 we read for the first time of his meeting with Mr. Mellard Reade: Monday the 12^th I had a visit from Mr. Mellard Reade of Blundellsands near Liverpool.  Are he was accompanied by his son Mr. Alleyn Reade.  They have been staying at the White Lion Bala since Friday evening. I have known Mr Reade for some years by his papers on Glacial Geology but this is the first time for me to meet him to speak to. Both got here by 9.35 train, and got here soon after. We first had a chat about geology and geologist friends, and then went to the fruit room to see my fossils which he so much desired to see.  After seeing the fossils for some time we went to Brynselwrn to see the glacial striae and sections of the gravel terraces on the railway and at Glandwynant.  We saw a large moraine below Palé Mill and got here again by a quarter to one.

Thomas Mellard Reade was an interesting character with multiple interests and abilities. He seems to have stood at the intersect between the professional and amateur status. As an engineer and architect he designed and planned the area of Blundellsands, part of the Crosby area (see the photograph of the church above, which was consecrated in 1874). It is notable that Mellard Reade shared the interest of Ruddy himself and Ruddy’s other geologist friend, A. C. Nicholson in glacial boulder drift. Nicholson investigation and published paper concentrates on an area of Shropshire; Mellard Reades’s on Lancashire and Cheshire, whilst Ruddy’s incomplete and unpublished researches would have filled in an adjoining westerly area.

Thomas Mellard Reade –
Photograph from his papers held at Liverpool University

An abstract of Reade’s obituary from the publication Nature gives a summary of Reade’s interests and accomplishments.

By April 1894 we can see that the friendship between Reade and Ruddy was deepening beyond their mutual geological interests, as Reade asks Ruddy to assist his family visiting the area: Thursday the 26^th.  We had Mrs Reade and her daughter Miss Taylor to tea.  They are staying at the Derfel with another daughter of Mrs Reade – Miss Mary Reade.  Mr. Reade is my geologist friend from Blundellsands; he wrote to me to say that he would be pleased if I would call on his daughters at the Derfel and assist them in any way I could.  Mrs Reade came afterwards.  Miss Reade devoted all her time to sketching so that she did not come to tea. I showed them the gardens and fossils after tea and we had a short walk in the grounds. Mrs Reade said that her husband would be angry with her if she did not come to see the fossils.  Mr. Reade married a widow and there are eight children in all.  They are nice people.

By the next month, Mr. Reade was visiting in pursuit of Thomas’s local glacial geology, bringing his son:

I spent the evening with Mr Reade and his son. We chatted about glacial geology and Boulders etc.  We planned to have a day in the Hirnant valley on the following day.

I met Mr Reade and his son at the station and we went to Bala by the 9.10 train.  We had a waggonette at the White Lion Hotel to take us to the head of the Hirnant Valley.  We found boulders in abundance at Rhosygwaliau, mostly from Arenig.  Found one Aran boulder at Penygarth, where we found some of the striae (glacial) between the lake and PenyGarth to be W by S, those on the Rhosygwaliau side were W by 10° N. Altitude at Penygarth 700 feet.

We found a stray Arenig boulder here and there until we got to Aberhirnant, but not one after that all the way to the county boundary and beyond on the Vyrnwy side.  I found three or four fossiliferous stones immediately on each side of the county boundary.  They are from the Bala Limestone and must have been carried by land ice, either from Craig yr Ogof or Pen-cefn-coch.  Both places on the high ground along the county boundary to the west of the head of the Hirnant. The absence of boulders was a curious fact, and it was what I thought it would be the case after my experience up the side of another feeder of the Hirnant – Nant cwm hesgen. 

Altitude above sea level at the county boundary, 1660 feet by barometer, and at Aberhirnant 775 ft.  It was 1015 feet where are the road crosses the stream at Moel Dinas, opposite Cwm yr aethnen. [ SH 95228 30015 -Ed.]

The Hirnant Valley

Mr Reade was to continue in friendship with Thomas over the following years, sharing both geological interests and family concerns.