Heath and Reach is dotted with current and worked out sand pits or quarries. A number of these are north-west of the angle formed by Shenley Hill Road and Mile Tree Road. The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 ordered every piece of land and building in the country to be assessed to determine the rates to be paid upon it.

The valuer visited a pit owned by G.Harris and worked by Parrott & Harris [DV1/C254/93] which comprised 7.283 acres. He noted: "Pit started about 30 years ago. Been closed. Reopened about two years ago. Saw foreman 30/8/27. Do about 7 or 8 tons a week. 3 men working 30/8/27. Belt of sand only 12 feet deep. Carts have to take sand out to road (¼ mile). Fetched from there by lorries. Not on Light Railway. Includes shed. 30 feet of untopping!" The last note shows why so little work was done at the quarry, the untopping is the soil, or overburden, which has to be removed before one reaches the layers of sand - thirty feet is a lot for this area.

The pit bordered a pit of George Garside's which lay to the east. Parrott & Harris' pit has long been closed.