I apologise for the late inclusion of this article by Dr Arthur Tingley that he entitled ‘One More Map’, the story of his determination to enter the profession of geological mapping.  After a successful career with i.a BGS he reached his apogee by roping in a team from TVGS to map one of the missing tiles–the Knighton sheet. Reports on this are included in the Knighton section HERE.  Here is the article that first appeared in the magazine of the Geologists Association:

APPRENTICESHIP

In 1966 the Geological Museum at South Kensington recruited around 15 school leavers as a cohort of cartographic draughtsmen, we were trained in the art of  making fair copy maps for publication as the 1:50 000 series of geological maps.  The intention then was to complete the field mapping and publication of all the maps which are now shown on the back of each of the published BGS map sheets.

Immersed in the Geological Museum, I soon wanted to do the surveying as well, but this was an unrealistic desire in the Civil Service of the 60’s for somebody without a Geology Degree. So I joined the Geologist’s Association, Geological Society and built a network along with part time study, and so eventually became trained by an alternative route, thus achieving my objective.

MSC AND PHD

The advent of the Open University opened up an additional line of attack, which allowed me to move on; thereafter becoming an Engineering Geologist by taking my MSc and PhD at Surrey University. Thus I spent the rest of my career wallowing in Engineering and Environmental Geology. I ostensibly finished my career with the Environment Agency in 2006, whence I hung up my geological hammer, gave away my geological books and samples and moved to Herefordshire.

THE KNIGHTON PROJECT AND TVGS

But then the surveyor’s eye, which never ever stops, began to work upon my surroundings.  I got hold of a copy of the Ludlow sheet 181, only to find that it is a provisional map, and thus only partially mapped.  I was intrigued!  On volunteering for the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Earth Heritage Trust [HWEHT], I was assigned to the Ludlow Anticline and undertook RIGS assessments.  It was at this time my attention was drawn towards map sheet 180, Knighton, an unpublished, nay un-surveyed, 1:50 000 sheet, one of only three that fell off the national survey program.

So, I undertook a feasibility study, and discovered that a wealth of work existed, including key work by Charles Holland and there was  a Geologists Association Trip in 1958 [Allender 1960] and more recently work by Nigel Woodcock and colleagues at Cambridge, arising partly from a string of PhD’s in the 1980’s. Furthermore, BGS had mapped and published Rhayader 179, Builth Wells 196 and Montgomery 165 sheets with more modern nomenclature in the 1990’s.  I sent the study to each of the [6] Geological Societies in the area, the Ludlow Resource Centre and HWEHT and BGS of course, and requested expressions of interest, assistance or general corrections to my assumptions, with a fairly open view about if we might proceed.

FUNDING AND CONTACTS

At this stage I still considered that I did not have sufficient contacts to know who’s who in the field; and I am so grateful to Professor Mike Rosenbaum for his time and advice at that point.  Thereafter my key barrier to progress became a question of manpower, field maps at 1:10000 scale and some pump priming funding.  Enter the Geologist’s Association, who provided an award, and advice regarding the provision of field slips. At which point I knew that we had a practical project, subject to the manpower.

ENTER TVGS

The Teme Valley Geological Society is a fairly new, enthusiastic and knowledgeable group, based in Martley Worcestershire, and centred on a remarkable rock outcrop associated with the Malvern Fault [https://geo-village.eu/]. Eight members of that group have joined with me to form a survey team, and following field survey training sessions, we are now engaged in our first survey season.

BARRIERS

There are of course some remaining barriers to progress, not least that much Geological information and data is locked up in archives and for the most part is quite viscous in its nature!  It has proved very difficult for instance to get assurances about the whereabouts of some PhD’s and other archival material, without actually travelling to London, Cambridge, Cardiff, Keyworth etc  to do the search in person. With the virtual demise of the Ludlow Resource Centre and the temporary closure of the Lapworth Museum a variety of sources of information are difficult to come by.  It also appears that most of the surveyors who worked on the surrounding geological maps are for the most part now the dearly departed, and their material dispersed or uncatalogued.

Our greatest weakness is in the palaeontological department, partly because many of the exposures mentioned in research papers are now non-existent or badly overgrown. The sparse Upper Silurian fauna does not often yield precise date interpretation, and indeed a few areas would benefit from some micropalaeontological investigation to help things along.

If you have knowledge of the area, maybe have done some mapping, collected fossils or have an interest in Silurian Palaeontology we would be very pleased to hear from you.

This is a transitional area which exhibits sediments on the Silurian ramp of the proximal seas of Avalonia, down into the distal basin deposits which are exhibited in the west of our area. Woodcock 1990 named this sequence the Powys Super-Group, Upper Llandovery to Pridoli. The area spans both the Pontesford Disturbance and the Church Stretton fault, and with varying sea level impulses from both eustatic and tectonic movements and the resulting dynamic interplay of environments, this has given rise to an interesting patchwork of facies.

OUTPUT

The survey is being carried out at 1:10 000 scale, for eventual fair copy at 1:25 000, and thence to a BGS format 1:50 000 scale map, with explanatory booklet.  There are 20 1:10 000 sheets each of which has been allocated to a lead surveyor. To date [July 2015] about 45% of the map area has been surveyed.  So we are well on our way to producing the Map Sheet 180 by approximately 2017.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To date, I have had the benefit of a lot of kind support and encouragement from a large number of people and organisations, really too numerous to mention in this short article; the details will have to wait until we are finished. However special thanks must go to my survey team: Paul Bate, Mike Brookes,  Sue Chester, Ingrid Darnley, Alan Hughes, John Moseley, Neil Raha and, Adrian Wyatt and associates John Nicklin, and Moira Jenkins and also the whole HWEHT team; and finally of course thanks  to the Geological Society and Geologists Association without whom nothing would have been possible.

References: Allender R , Holland C H, Lawson JD , Walmsley V G, Mcd Whitaker

Summer Field Meeting At Ludlow  2-9 August 1958

Proc Geol Assoc Vol 71 (2) 1960 

Woodcock N. H.1990,

Sequence stratigraphy of the Palaeozoic Welsh Basin

Journal of the Geological Society, London, Vol. 147, pp. 537-547, 

Arthur Tingley

23October 2016
Map
Eve Fraser (a convert to geology though she has serious archaeological roots) and self, parked just over Ham Bridge (SO737610) and walked along the drive to Ham Farm (SO739598) to prospect the stone buildings and a small quarry that Eve and her friends had spotted on a previous walk. En route an obvious eroded quarried area (SO741601) before reaching a variety of farm buildings, modern, ancient timber framed with brick infill and stone. On the west of the River Teme the bedrock is of Devonian age, the formation, St Maughans sandstone. The stone where it was used in the buildings was obviously a sandstone, weather worn, providing plenty of hiding places for insects and small birds. Just beyond the farmstead on a right of way that leads to Whitbourne and Woodmanton a delightful, small quarry set into the side of a steep bluff, maybe 6-8 m high (SO737598). Massive (i.e. big blocks, jolly good for building) in the lower structure, suddenly thinly bedded for the top two metres (similar to Scar Cottage, but there, it is Triassic, some 130 million years younger).

Always an event well worth attending, hosts of crafts, food, apples (of course), hobbies on display.  Bit quieter this year many competing events and other unfortunate happenings seeming to coincide to undo all the hard work by the organisers.  TVGS wuz there. 

5th September: Last geo-amble of the season, back in the cars down to the Teme Valley, this time by kind permission of Sir Anthony Winnington, parking at his home. Brockhill Court, Shelsley Beauchamp. These ambles have attracted a smattering of history and archaeological buffs, most useful when looking at buildings and the stones used.  Next to the court an old quarry, hidden under dense trees, entrance straight off the narrow Pard House Lane.  We stepped into a dark world, cliffs on both sides, the middle, very hard rock having been removed for building and roadway constructions.

Ella from EHT kindly took the role of explaining about the site and the geological processes that had formed it.

The interest here is that in the Carboniferous, some 300 million years ago, possibly when after a period of mountain building and pressure, the plates relaxed allowing weaknesses in the crust to be exploited by molten magma.  Forcing its way up, these ‘dykes’ acted as feeders to volcanic activity on the surface, but themselves cooled down a kilometer or so below.  Cooling was therefore slow, of the order of 10 000 years, submerged as it was under a huge depth of other deposits subsequently eroded, leaving the remains of the dyke on the surface of ‘our’ world.  The extreme heat affected the layers through which it travelled as it itself was affected.  In the centre, the hottest and slowest to cool, Teschenite, a rock of altered basalt with easily visible crystals.  Next comes the ‘chilled margin’, a black, very fine crystalline rock, basalt in all but name. Then we see a rock with rough yellow, horizontal tubes.  This is the baked ‘country rock’, in this case Raglan Mudstone (from the end of the Silurian), and the tubes are gas escapes later filled with other materials. If you wish to read about the site, from an article written many years ago, it is HERE (thanks Ella).  Here is a map again drawn years ago.  We intend to explore the area further.

22nd August: by car into the Teme Valley to Southstone Rock, possibly England’s largest tufa deposit, a quarter of a mile up a steepish track, often muddy and slippery.  In this dense, damp, primeval woodland it is hardly possible to even glimpse the gigantic deposit from the fork in the track, only 50m away.

Prepare to be amazed.

Cross the narrow wooden bridge that replaced an original brick arch, that itself was replaced by a slippy plank with no handrails.  Recent work by Rights of Way has made the approach less intimidating. Venture under towering, rugged cliffs, note giant blocks that have cracked off the main massif, observe a clean break from 5 years ago when a block tumbled down the slope into the fern thronged cascade. Plenty to explore here, narrow passages between the blocks, caves and holes then around the corner the flat top of this huge formation.  Sadly these days the top is covered in dense brambles and young trees, unlike a few years ago when remains of the old house could be seen alongside the rushing stream, the area almost lawn like.  Work needed here.  Even the easily audible gushing spring, in this high summer season, is inaccessible. We struggled to the edge where  the stream tumbles in runnels down a moss covered fall, building tufa as it goes, petrifying the moss to form a lightweight stone.  This stone is used in buildings in the area, perhaps the most beautiful being Shelsley Walsh church though we understand the stone for it came from quarries much closer.

Descending in the gloom of this grey evening, a rare pool of sunlight picked out the hills, opposite.  See HERE a guide to Southstone Rock.

15th August: no cars only shanks’ pony, on  yet another beautiful clear evening.  By popular vote we set off over the Nubbins enjoying views to the Malverns as well as close ups of the Bromsgrove Sandstone quarry face with its cross bedding and gravelly interleaves.  The latter, evidence of stormy events in a river flowing in a dry region with wind blown and river deposited sands. Exiting on to the top field, travelling on paths walked earlier in the series, the 360 degree view always a wonder.  This takes in the Clent Hills in the North with their cap of Permian Breccia, the Lickeys and their Ordovician, the Jurassic Cotswolds and Bredon outlier to the East, in the South the Precambrian Malverns and then the Devonian Bromyard Plateau in the West.  Finally, swinging to the North the Clee Hills capped with sills of Dolerite, heavily quarried, continuingly so, for roadstone and aggregates, as well as ironstone and sandstones.   Nearer to hand are Martley’s Triassic Nubbins quarries, Permian Berrow, Silurian Rodge/Pudford Hills and the Severn plain.  Truly a place to stop and spend a while.

We took a permissive path along the rim of the Teme valley (Kingswood Slide), on limestone now, steeply into a distinct water catchment basin to Kingswood Chasm and outcrops of the Silurian Coalbrookdale Formation.  Noting local ground slumping we trekked to the river far below to check out Martley’s highest (dry !) waterfall (Kingswood Waterfall) a block of perhaps slipped Coalbrookdale.

Turning down river, South, through woodland along a section of the Geopark Way.  After the audit was produced we discovered an outcrop of Raglan Sandstone and though not now accessible due to a fallen tree, we had placed by the track, samples of this micaceous, sometimes blocky, sometimes finely bedded into very flat, thin sheets, sandstone.  Raglan Mudstone is generally just that, mud, soft, clay, marly but it does contain lenses of more solid materials as sandstones and here we have one.  There are two examples in the audit book but difficult to reach and on private land (Horsham River Cliff) and in the River Teme at Ham Bridge, River Teme Reef.

A steep walk took us back to Kingswood Lane and the small site there, near where the East Malvern fault crosses so the lane jumps +-150 million years at this point, from Triassic to Silurian (Raglan Mudstone).

Thanks for coming–next week Southstone.

(photos Angie Hill and J Nicklin)

8th August: 1st August rained off, stair-rod stuff, stalwarts turned up but seriously guys, no way, and boy were we wise to postpone, 8th turned out to be a simply glorious evening, clear, warm, the countryside in its harvest best, marvellous.

After the hall meet, in convoy to the driveway of Rodge Hill Farm, parking by kind permission of the owner.  Immediately the greyish soil colour indicating we were in limestone country, actually where we parked the cars, the softer Ludlow Shales between the hilly Much Wenlock and the ridge of Aymestry to the west.  The so called Ludlow series is one of four divisions in the Silurian Period and itself has three parts–Lower and Upper Ludlow Shales and between them in age, Aymestry formation. Nearly all of the rocks in Martley parish, indeed in the wider area are sedimentary, meaning they were deposited in layers in the sea, in rivers and deserts.  This is over many millions of years and to be expected in such a long time period the environment changed dramatically.  Sea levels rose and fell, climate changed and the quality of the deposits varied from a greater contribution by sea dwelling life (corals, shellfish, stromatolites, stromatoporoids as examples) to silty wash ins from rivers and volcanic ash falls, sand banks in marine estuaries and so on.  In the case of the Ludlow group these changes are reflected as hard rock in well defined layers, sometimes nodular, to the softer, muddier, more easily eroded shales found in the lower ground between the ridges. All though have greater or lesser proportions of calcium carbonate from the then living organisms that inhabited those seas. Running through are veins of whitish, volcanic ash, a soft clay like material (Bentonite) with a great many industrial uses.

Leaving the car park, we followed the newly laid out (a most generous gesture by the landowner) permissive way, to the side of the main track, climbing up to the low ridge of Aymestry separated from the much higher ridge to the West. We turned North up to a low but excellent viewpoint then down a long track passing by one of the Martley sites, Rodge Hill Farm Track North. It was a splendid place to be on such a summer evening, the geology and Angie’s knowledge of plant life (thanks Angie) adding to the enjoyment. Puffing up on to the main ridge of Rodge Hill we joined the Worcestershire and Geo-Park Ways and started South climbing through dense woodland, mostly not present 20 years ago, to the highest point and a welcome resting and view site.  En-route we made out the edges of the nearly vertical Aymestry strata outcropping as the foundation of the footpath (this is Rodge Hill Summit site).

At the seat, we took in views to the Malverns, Skirrid, Hay Bluff, Clee Hill and at our feet with evening shadows creeping, the incomparable valley of the River Teme. We spotted Shelsley Beauchamp Church, Clifton Church up on the Devonian across the river,  the Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb, Homme Castle Motte and many old farmsteads now largely converted to fine homes for those with more money than the writer has.

Descending to a bridle path we stopped at an outcrop of Aymestry (Pudford Hill Bridleway Section)  then through woodland and field to Lower Farm Quarry (aka Crinoid city) and its interpretation board. A short walk along the edge of a wheat field took us to the cars and back home.

 

 

25th July: 18 of us packed the minimum number of cars, parked at the Admiral Rodney (thanks–but Monday, no activity there) and walked under lowering skies down Horsham Lane then up on to the Berrow, along a ridge of Haffield (Permian) Breccia. There is a small pit, high on the ridge, in a spectacular position, only accessible by permission of the landowner.  ‘Haffield’ because Haffield House near Ledbury is where the ‘type’ formation is situated, ‘breccia‘ because this formation is a jumble of angular and rounded rocks of all sizes set in a fine matrix that cements the whole together and this is what the word means.  The deposit here is not so firmly concreted, presumably due to weathering; signs of faulting are present with distinct differences in the coarseness of adjacent deposits.  Laid down in a dry land, in rugged but eroding highlands part of the giant continent of Pangaea, flash floods brought down debris of all sizes, rounding some of the boulders as they washed along, creating beds of rubble with finer and finer particles cementing it under the weight of subsequent events. At the time, this area was some degrees north of the equator;  deposits of this Permian breccia (from a period 299-252 million years ago) are scattered across Worcestershire and Herefordshire, for example on the Clent and Woodbury Hills, on Berrow and on the top of Ankerdine and of course near Ledbury at Haffield House, among others. The deposit here is extensive–at the bottom of the hill near the lane is a much larger quarry, Permian Pit 2, heavily overgrown but previous investigations revealed that it too was Haffield Breccia.

We could see the rain coming and come it did, the more sensible equipped with raincoats and umbrellas, others (me) drenching in a considerable shower as we walked along roads then through dripping woods to our next ‘site’, Hay Wood petrifying drip.  In the Teme Valley there are many streams that deposit tufa owing to the preponderance of limestone and a spring line created by impervious layers below.  In Hay Wood there is a small water outflow from a muddy, root bound patch trickling down a gentle slope until it meets a large tree that creates a small waterfall, ideal for teasing out of the lime laden water a precipitate of calcium carbonate.  This coats objects in the stream bed and creates small terraces, similar to those on a much larger scale in for example Turkey. Prof. Fairchild explained that a storm event would easily destroy these deposits only for the process to start all over again.

The rain ceasing, long grass still soaking we tramped uphill to Collins Green Quarry, a long scar into Much Wenlock limestone formation topped, uncomformably, by the very same Breccia seen previously.  ‘Unconformably’ means that there is a geological period missing in the sequence, in this case the Silurian is topped by Permian, with Devonian and Carboniferous missing.  The assumption is that it was there but was later eroded away before the Permian was laid down. Unknowingly, drivers on the B4197 pass within a few inches of a sheer drop into this quarry and in the past, before the new landowner erected a tall fence, all sorts of rubbish was hurled into the void from the ‘out of sight out of mind brigade’ parking in the lay-bye.  Without maintenance the face is losing clarity.  At the foot of the slope can be found boulders from the Permian, themselves usually made up of a conglomerate of pebbles from yet a previous generation of eroded mountains.  Limestone rocks in the scree, many with fossils typical of the Wenlock, are often stained red, washed down from the iron rich Permian above.  In the right conditions a vein of bentonite is also visible, common throughout the Much Wenlock.

We wended our way in a glorious sunlit evening back up to the road thence to our fleet of ‘taxis’ at the Admiral Rodney and back to Martley.  Another 5 sites tonight, taking the total to 17,  I make it–over half way there.

18th July: 20 of us took to the hills on a very warm and gloriously sunny evening.  This time we went a little way north, driving to and parking at the Martley’s main quarry site (by kind permission).  A little introduction to this impressive Silurian, Much Wenlock formation face with its clear layers and the turned over section to the west, how it was formed over many millions of years in a warm sub-tropical sea.  Life was booming in the sea with many types of corals, trilobites, bivalves and other shellfish, some of which might look familiar on your local fishmonger’s slab. These reefs were then around 2000 miles south of the equator not always far from shore, in sea the depth of which varied considerably, influencing the quality of the deposit.  From the top of the old filled in quarry, wonderful far ranging views to the Malverns (south), Bredon Hill and the Cotswolds (south east and east), the Severn plain, the Lickeys south of Birmingham, Clent Hills and finally our neighbours, the Abberley and Woodbury Hills. Western views were obscured by trees and by the somewhat higher hills known as Pudford and Rodge Hill from the Aymestry formation. Dropping down to the public footpath that runs around the north end of the quarry, we descended ‘Stairway to Heaven’, explored ‘the Canyon’, passed by ‘Callow Track South’ exiting as if through a doorway from forest to grassland to a magnificent viewpoint over a vale of the softer Lower Ludlow Shales, seemingly towered over by the aforementioned Aymestry ridge along which run the Worcestershire and GeoPark Ways. Group decision took us back along the forest edge to Peter Weddell-Halls land and the fine face to the rear of his old farmhouse.  So those of you who came along can tick off Penny Hill Lane, Quarry Farm, Quarry Farm House, Penny Hill Quarry, Penny Hill East, Stairway to Heaven, The Canyon and Callow Track South taking the total in two weeks to 12.

11th July: On an increasingly lovely evening, 28 gathered to commence the quest of visiting everyone of Martley’s 31 geology sites and maybe a few more too. It was a pleasure to meet many new faces, keen on a gentle ramble of exploration with some geology thrown in. The walk up the Worcestershire Way, then high above the river and into the top fields above the Nubbins was simply glorious, memorable, Worcestershire and counties beyond glowing in the evening sun. Sites visited: Martley Rock, Kingswood Slide, The Nubbins, Scar Cottage. Next week we’ll probably check out our limestone countryside and features.

Don’t trust the BBC weather forecasts!  For 25th June they were all over the place and had been in the days leading up to this event.  In the garden?  In the hall? In the garden? In the hall? And don’t forget, you would be putters’ on of this type of do, you might well need a liquor and possibly a music licence.  So, in the days just before, not only the headache of selling more tickets but the vagaries of the weather and, more time consuming, dealing with the authorities.  Worcester Regulatory Services had received a complaint, are bound to follow it up and informed me on 22nd, that a liquor licence and possibly a music licence would be required, the bad news being that this took 5 working days.  Had he called me around 17th, when the complaint was handed in, then there would have been no problem. More bad news, the Memorial Hall has a music licence.  Only.  And we did not need one for the Worcester Male Voice Choir anyway. An hour on the phone with a relatively sensible officer gave us the confidence to continue with the plans, on his recommendation, then, Saturday afternoon at 3.30pm the decision to use the hall as the main base for choir, picnic and talk was made. Whilst on about it the other incredibly frustrating matter is those who book tickets, just a few days before, then do not take them up or advise they have changed their minds. There were at least six in that category.

Using the hall turned out to be a good decision.  It saved £150 for the hire of two portaloos, took away any worries over a PA system, the weather and made garden lighting unnecessary.  The downside was that we were all, especially the choir, disappointed not to hear them in such a fabulous setting with the warm, red rock walls to reflect and amplify their singing.  In the hall our many guests soon settled in good cheer with their picnics, conviviality assisted by a glass of champagne from Doddenham.  Worcester Male Voice Choir entertained us for an hour with an amusingly presented and excellently sung repertoire, perfectly chosen for the occasion.

At half time those who wished, took the short walk to see Ian and Pam’s unique quarry garden, brought through immense hard work, to the peak of perfection for the occasion. Thanks Pam and Ian and for your generous sharing of your lovely grounds.

Professor Richard Selley of Imperial gave a memorably humorous account of how climate change is affecting vine growing, where those ‘on the spot’ see year on year, vineyards creeping northwards, and more heat tolerant vines replacing original plantings. Given that the evening was organized by TVGS, Richard managed to squeeze in an acceptable dollop of geological information which I believe the audience took in without realising it.

The final event was the tasting of five wines from Worcestershire, four white and one red. Two producers were in attendance and it was a real bonus to hear them say a few words about their vineyards and their ambitions. Our visiting expert led the tasting, commenting on each wine after all had savoured a sample.

Thanks are owed to all those who worked hard to put on a most successful evening and particularly those who sold the tickets.  If you missed it, maybe next year.  The feedback has been very positive indeed, encouraging us to think of a repeat performance.

We knew it was there somewhere, but where for goodness sake? Martley Rock geology site that is.
To paraphrase Keats, ‘this season of drizzle and dreadful jungles’, four men went to mow on 23rd June and made an impressive difference:

The second time we have held a dinner after the AGM and appropriately just before Christmas.  This year, even more appropriate was

the theme of the talk by our President, Dr Paul Olver, on the possible origins of the Star of Bethlehem.  Paul examined the poorly documented but nevertheless fervently believed bases of the star, the wise men and why Bethlehem.  The Gospels, written as they were 4 or 5 generations later are at odds with each other and written histories from the middle east, of the era have dating mistakes so there is not much to go on.  Astronomers however are able to offer concrete evidence by using technology to turn back the night sky to those

days.  This, together with more recently revealed histories from the far east (China) tend to support the idea that there was a nova (not a super nova).  A nova is a star that grows in magnitude until it becomes visible to the naked eye, then dims again so that it disappears from view.  Of course in those days the eye was all that was available, though there were no lights to dim the night sky so conditions particularly in the dry regions of the middle east, would have been ideal for viewing. Other theories, tested by modern astronomers, have centred around planetary conjunctions when planets normally seen on their own, often brighter than any object other than the moon, are seen as being very close to each other thus increasing their visibility. Although there were several of these in the time period, actually around 4 or 5 BC before Herod died, none were aligned enough or in the correct position to look like one object or to act as a lead to Bethlehem.  After considering all the possibilities Pauls’ conclusion was that a nova is the best solution. HERE is a more comprehensive examination of theories, to be found in Wikipedia

David thanked Paul for an entertaining talk, and awarded TVGS’s first unsung, in this case, heroine award, to Paul’s wife Sue for her continuing, dedicated presence with Paul, staying in the background yet carrying out key activities to make it happen–one example being that Sue drives Paul everywhere, others that she acts as his minder and diary keeper–thanks Sue!

The Talbot delivered a tasty 3 course Christmas meal with wine in their lovely, festive function room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave Cropp and John Nicklin travelled to Buxton–the Palace Hotel- on Wednesday 25th November where we had been invited to share our experiences in geo-tourism. Julie Harrald (author of the Geological Audit of Martley) had organized this major event in conjunction with all those keen to see geo-tourism in the Peak District National Park, developed further, more co-operatively and efficiently.  A geopark is mooted.

Around 70 gathered in the giant ballroom, where as we arrived ten minutes late an introductory talk by our friend Chris Darmon had commenced.  Dave and I quickly and quietly erected our small display on the table provided and alongside stands from Torbay Geopark, Mike Brooks showing off his apps

, East Midlands GS, Ecton Hills Field Studies Assn among others.  Second key note speech (never know what that really means) from Nick Powe, owner of Kent’s Caverns in Torbay and a big wheel on the English Riviera Geopark.  Next year the International GeoPark Federation is to hold its regular conference in Torquay.  This is a really big event, perhaps the most important on the Geopark calendar.  We hope to visit as observers but the attendance costs are huge!

After refreshments, five 10 minute slots–Mike Brooks on his apps, and how impressive that was, well done Mike, Urban Ideas by Graham Worton but delivered in his enforced absence by Colin Prosser a Vice Pres. of the GA and someone Dave and I usefully talked to over lunch.  Third, Guy Kerr Community Coordinator for the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.  This is a project where the spend is in millions, and stretches along a 95 mile coastline. Tony Devos, another big spender this time from the North-East, talked about the Magnesian Limestone, the discovery and conservation of several major geology sites as well as  working with schools–very interesting.

So far all speakers had been professionals, employed by local councils who in turn had secured or voted funding as they saw an opportunity in promoting geology to attract visitors and help the local economy.  So, when I stood up the story was different.  Amateur, bottom up approach, local people and the community initiating and making it happen.  I think people saw the difference and appreciated very much the work we are doing here.

HERE is my presentation.

After lunch groups to discuss five questions.  Useful, Dave and I left before feedback but contributed to the discussion.

In summary, worth going as usual, useful contacts made and after many years for me a visit to Buxton and the Peaks reminded me what a dramatic and fascinating area it is with its varied rocks and long industrial history.

This major event attracted 20, yes 20, same as last year.  I think the free glass of premium selected vino got them in with the promise of bikkies later on.  Anyway the business was carried out with the usual efficiency and speed that TVGS is noted for.  Almost as that meeting closed a charabanc must have pulled up outside, as suddenly the doors burst open and a crowd rushed in to hear our visiting speaker, Graham Worton.  After an amusing intro by Janet full of new jokes, Graham gave a wonderful down to earth, or rather below the earth as it was all on mining, talk that will be more fully expounded upon on these pages by Alan (Bates).

Arthur (Tingley) presented an update (see it HERE)  on the Knighton mapping project on which a team, busy for over a year, is starting to produce good results (Paul Bate’s book is a work of art).  Thanks and much appreciation of course, must go to Arthur for the huge amount of work he is doing, including all the teaching, fieldwork he himself is out gathering and the assembly and analysis of the data from his team.  This is a great project, right where TVGS wants to go, thanks again, Arthur.

Tom (Jones) held a meeting with Paul Olver earlier in the day, and outlined to this meeting, the Breccia project and the type of activities open to those who wish to volunteer.  By the end of the evening over a dozen had put their names down.  Tom will keep us informed–thanks Tom, again looking like a great project.

HERE is a retrospective of 2014/2015 TVGS happenings, hastily assembled and shown at the meeting.