Welcome
Welcome to the latest newsletter mine was fairly used up, the redundant, from GeoMo n Anglesey Geopark. experienced miners then went over to 2018 was a busy year for GeoMo n the mainland as experts and worked with a large school visit, support for there. The huge dumps of slate waste students and research projects, scarring the hills round Snowdonia are visits to other Geoparks and many ideal for many uses including building visitors at our centre in Amlwch. material, household goods and This has been a year of consolidation crafts. So we can now use it to sell in following our successful validation our centre at Porth Amlwch. by UNESCO at the end of 2017. The GeoMo n board is currently working with the joint advisory committee of the Anglesey AONB to make us more The upper parts of the sustainable. Tyllau Duon Slate Quarry cc-by-sa/2.0 - Another highlight was being told that at © Eric Jones - geograph.org.uk/p/749124 last, our geopark will be able to buy and sell slate goods. UNESCO has a rule that we are not allowed to sell any rocks, Visits to other Geoparks minerals or fossils from inside or Each year, as part of our membership of outside our geoparks without rare the European and UNESCO Geopark permission. After four years of trying networks, the managing director of we finally got permission because of our Geomôn, Margaret Wood, and a history. There was a slate mine on the representative from Anglesey Council coast at nearby Llaneilian and, once the have to attend two Geopark meetings.
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These visits allow Geomôn personnel to of a good exhibition for the Pilot House interact with people from other of Llanddwyn Island. Geoparks, to gain insights into how In other research Margaret Wood and other Geoparks work, and to develop Terry Williams are dating limestones to ideas for future developments here in see how they fit age patterns, type of Anglesey. fossils. This year the first visit was to the Last March we ran a very successful European Geopark meeting in the geology field study trip, held over four Karavanke Karawanke Geopark on the days, for 86 students and staff from the border of Austria-Slovenia in the Alps. It Lycée International School in London. was a good meeting held in a pretty This was organised by Margaret Wood, Alpine Ski resort. The September supported by three other geologists and meeting was the 8th International many of our geoguides. We were very Conference grateful for all their help. This was a on UNESCO very large group compared to what we Global have done before and had its issues such Geoparks as trying to get two large buses down held in narrow lanes. The students ended up Adamello- walking fairly long distances to some Brenta sites but at least they got lots of healthy UNESCO Global Geopark, Trentino, Italy. exercise as a bonus!
Awards, Teaching and Research Membership Information Dr Margaret Wood received an Gavin Rowlands is our new Membership Honorary Fellowship from Bangor Secretary and can help with any queries University in July for her services to you may have regarding membership. geology. You can contact him on 07903 342129 Several students are being supported by or at [email protected] Margaret Wood. Two are Open University students and the third, Neil So that we can increase awareness of Groome, is a geochemist now in his the Geopark trust and its activities, we second year studying for a PhD at would like to recruit more members, Cardiff University and doing his study at both individual and corporate. If you Newborough. He has completed some can assist by recruiting just one more maps of the area and lots of geochemical member each, this would help analyses in Cardiff so we look forward significantly towards our target of to him finishing as he will be suggesting doubling our membership. If you know a new longer trail in the forest and on of any companies in your local area that Llanddwyn Island. We hope that the would like to support us, please fruits of his labours will form the basis encourage them to join up as Corporate
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Members – the rates are very affordable showing that this is a very worthwhile (see website) - and in return we will venture. It’s a lovely place to be based place their company logo on our website too. and give acknowledgement for their support in our social media, newsletters and visitor centre. Where possible, an Volunteering Opportunities annual standing order is our preferred Although we have a small dedicated payment method for individuals and team of volunteers we are always companies. looking for more people to help out in
the Watch House and to cover holidays, So that we can communicate with our illness etc. If you would like to help membership more effectively, it would please contact Sheila Bennell at be very helpful if all members could [email protected]. We will please provide an email address. If you show you around the Facilities and give have not already provided one, can you you an overview of the geology of please contact Gavin. This will also help Anglesey. If you are you have any other to keep our postal costs to a minimum. ideas of how you could help please
contact Margaret Wood at Full details on the different rates of [email protected] membership are available on the website http://www.geomon.co.uk/membershi Greenly centenary p/4533383911 In 2019 geologists around the UK and Watch House Visitors worldwide will be celebrating the Last year our exhibition centre in the centenary of the Watch House in Amlwch Port was open publication of for 158 days between March to October. Edward Greenly’s There was a two volume book, The Geology of total of 3767 Anglesey, the culmination of twenty five visitors with years work. Although aspects of the around one survey were revised by later workers it fifth from remains a classic study and he will be Wales, three remembered by geologists as a pioneer quarters in grass roots geological field work and from England and smaller numbers techniques, in one of the most complex from a wide range of countries geological settings in the UK. His wife including Scotland, Australia, New Annie assisted his work and produced Zealand, USA, Canada and Hong Kong. the index for the books. Terry Williams Feedback from visitors is excellent and produced a paper about Annie’s work in all the volunteers enjoy their work 2007 in The Role of Women in the
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History of Geology published by the Wood 01248 810287 (£30 including Geological Society and edited by Burek postage) or call into the Watch House and Hicks. The Greenly’s work certainly during the summer months and save the provided the inspiration for later postage costs. generations of geology students, and the Useful Apps include Ancient Earth: island remains a popular destination for Assembly of Pangaea and The Breakup of university field trips. Pangea. These cost £7 from the Apple Edward and Annie Greenly are both App Store and provide an excellent and buried in Llangristiolus cemetery. fun way to gain an understanding of Professor Cynthia Burek has produced a plate tectonics and how we have moved postcard about Annie Greenly, available from southern earth to our present day from the Watch House, and is planning position. They have been developed to produce a cemetery walk leaflet for from Christopher Scotese’s work on the the Greenlys. Watch this space. PaleoMap project www.scotese.com
Geological maps of Anglesey, based on Earth Viewer on the BioInteractive Greenly’s original map published in website is also a very useful resource 1920, will be for sale in the Watch https://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/ea House this year. Greenly’s book can be rthviewer read online at https://archive.org/details/geologyofan glese01greeuoft/page/n9
Some Useful Resources
Have you seen our book about the Geology of Anglesey Footsteps throughTime?
This excellent book, published in 2016, presents the latest interpretations of Anglesey’s geology. Drawing on recent research by British and Japanese scientists it presents scenarios of how Anglesey may have formed. It also contains Geotrails for all of the geological ages on the island. To buy a copy contact Margaret
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