Martley’s Connections with Erupting Volcanoes and Volcanic Ash
Thomas Jones, he of local residence and schooling, keen to pass on something of the work he does in a rather esoteric branch of geology but one that concerns us all, and the more you fly the more it should concern you. The perils of volcanic ash and in particular its effect on aircraft engines is providing Tom with a route to a Masters at Bristol and employment that sees him working much of the time in Germany. The university there I believe, houses Europe’s best equipped lab capable of replicating forces inside an erupting volcano. This uses raw material ground from real lava which under controlled temperatures and pressures is released into the atmosphere (of the lab of course). The resultant tiny particles made up of crystals both fractured and whole of divers materials enables, through close microscopic examination, conclusions as to how the particles might affect aero engines (and for that matter, lungs and other more personal equipment). A most interesting discovery is that fact that other molecules bind to the surfaces of the crystals, giving them unexpected and sometimes undesirable properties.

Tom your talk was just great, thanks, and your illustrations and clear explanations made for a talk that we all came away from feeling we had learned much. Great to see your parents there and Bob Allison too, who we understand taught you geology and started you off on what will without doubt be a most successful career.

Matthew Blakely
On January 27th Matthew Blakely, ‘a potter from Cambridge’ came and went a very long way indeed to collect nine sacks of different coloured clays recovered in January from temporary trenching at Martley Rock field AND to talk to us about his work and the results of test firings with local materials. My deliberate epithet ‘a potter from Cambridge’ does not in anyway give credit to the exploratory science that Matthew conducts in his determined quest to discover different and fabulous clays from all over the country, Cornwall to Edinburgh and beyond. It was immediately apparent that we had the privilege of listening to a real expert who had brought along beautiful works of art uniquely shaped and fired to hues unimaginable by those not familiar with this art form. It was unfortunate that time was pressing as we would all have liked to have heard more. Matthew’s work extends into archaeology, as evidence is that Martley mudstone was used in the Iron Age to make pots.  His work suggests that indeed some of the clays would have been usable in this regard. HERE is a link to Matthews web site and HERE is a link to his blog on test firings with local clays (Jan 14th).

Thank you so much for your visit Matthew I know that many will follow up your work.

One of our members, Mike Riggs, takes a sketch pad with him wherever he goes and here are links to PAGE 1 and PAGE 2 for Tom’s talk and PAGE 3 for Matthew’s.  Thanks Mike for this novel way of remembering the evening and for your skill in producing it!