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8
Willesden Local Board.
SOIL.
The soil of the district is a thin superstratum
of loam on a variable thickness of stiff clay, with
the exception, perhaps, of a small patch of land
at the top of Dollis Hill, which seems to have no
clay. When the foundations for the permanent
buildings of the Isolation Hospital were being dug,
I observed gravel at about two feet, or perhaps
rather more, below the surface, there being about
18 inches of clay on it.
THE BRENT.
This small river forms the north-west boundary
of the district, the reservoir at the Welsh Harp
forming the northern point. The reservoir is formed
by collecting the waters of the two streams coming
from the northward. Below the reservoir there is
a small stream coming from the north-west which
has been made use of for the formation of a small
lake in the ornamental grounds of Wembley Park,
the overflow coming into the Brent as before. There
is but a very small amount of water, which, in very
dry seasons, seems to be lost altogether. Mr.
Bobson and myself accompanied Dr. Copeman, of
the Local Government Board, on June 29th, when
he made his inspection of the river. The ground
immediately under the dam of the reservoir was
perfectly hard and covered with grass, the feeder,
which conveys the water from the reservoir to the
canal, had taken all the water for a longtime, none
being allowed down the stream, the latter consequently
forming a series of stagnant pools By
collecting, by means of a dam across the river, the
effluents of the sewage field with the waters of the
stream, the engineer is enabled to let down a small
flow through a sluice at stated intervals, which has