Circular 436 March 2019 Registered Charity No: 503617 President: Mike Allen www.emgs.org.uk SPRING 2019 LECTURE PROGRAMME Saturday, 13th April 2019 – 6,00 pm Dr Tony Waltham and Dr Noel Worley – Derbyshire Blue John Revisited LECTURE VENUE Indoor meetings are now held in the School of Geography on the Nottingham University campus which is in the Sir Clive Granger Building. Enter the University by the North Entrance, off the A52, and follow signs to the main Visitor Car Park. As you enter the car park, the Sir Clive Granger building is on your left. The Society is indebted to the School of Geography at the University, who are sponsoring our lectures, for the use of these facilities. Saturday, 13th April 2019 – 6,00 pm Speakers: Dr Tony Waltham and Dr Noel Worley Derbyshire Blue John Revisited Blue John fluorite is one of the few minerals that can be claimed as unique to Britain. The banded purple and yellow colouring of the material extracted from Treak Cliff at Castleton cannot be matched by fluorite that is known from anywhere else in the world. The reason for its rarity lies in the unusual geology of the reef limestone of Treak Cliff. When cut and worked into ornaments or jewellery, Blue John is beautiful. The definitive book on Derbyshire Blue John was written 20 years ago by Trevor Ford, but has long been out of print. A new, up-dated and improved edition has been prepared for publication by the Society. In the two-part lecture, Tony Waltham presents an overview of Blue John, its mining and its uses as a decorative stone. This previews the new edition of the book and highlights some of the changes in our understanding of the geology and history of Blue John. Noel Worley then describes the geological features at Treak Cliff, which is probably the most accessible example of mineralized hypogenic karst in the South Pennine Orefield, and how the geological conditions influenced the formation of the distinctive colour banding of Blue John fluorite. SUMMER 2019 FIELD PROGRAMME Saturday 27th April 2019 – 10.30 am Leaders: Steve Alcock and Stuart Egan (NSGGA) Mam Tor and Treak Cliff - Carboniferous geology, landslips and Treak Cliff cavern and Blue John workings Joint meeting with the North Staffs Group of the Geological Association (NSGGA) Meeting place: Mam Tor Road below Treak Cliff, Castleton Park at the base of Treak Cliff (SK136833). The visit will cover about 6kms along footpaths including some uphill walking. The visit will also look at Carboniferous outcrops and the Mam Tor landslip. We will visit the show cave at the end of our fieldtrip (approx. 4.00pm.) The cavern shows Blue John veins in-situ as well as excellent cave formations. Bring warm & waterproof clothing, boots and a packed lunch. There is a gift shop, displays and refreshments at the Cavern. Cost £12 which includes entrance to the Treak Cliff Cavern and the field fee. Sunday 26 May 2019 – 11.00 am Leaders: Tim Pharoah and Kevin Topham Centenary of first UK oil discovery at Hardstoft, Derbyshire Meeting place: Oilwell Nursery, Chesterfield Rd, Tibshelf DE55 5NP This is a two part visit. The morning will be spent at the Oilwell Nursery which is the site of the first discovery of oil in the UK on 27 May 1919. Philip Schofield of Oilwell Nurseries will welcome us and Tim Pharoah of the BGS will describe the reasons behind the search for UK oil at the time and why Hardstoft was selected as one of the drilling sites. We will then travel to Kelham Hall, between Southwell and Newark (postcode NG23 5QX), at 2 pm to visit the museum dedicated to the WW2 Eakring oil and the early North Sea gas discoveries. Its founder, Kevin Topham, will talk about his involvement in the early offshore exploration, including the Sea Gem disaster. Lunch on route – many pubs / cafes on the way. Saturday and Sunday 15th/16th June 2019 Brassington Tertiary pocket deposits of Derbyshire. (Organised by the Yorkshire Geological Society) Saturday 15th June 2019 – 2.00 pm Afternoon of talks on the Geology and Geomorphology of the Brassington Pocket Deposits in Derbyshire Meeting place: British Geological Survey, Nicker Hill, Keyworth, Notts NG12 5GG. Park in BGS car park on left after barrier at entrance. Caves, pocket deposits and records of environmental change. Sunday 16th June 2019 – Time TBA Leader: Jim Riding (BGS) Field visit to Brassington pocket deposits, Wirksworth, Derbyshire Meeting place: Manystones Lane, 4.5 km west of Wirksworth, near Hoben International works (SK 24100 54580). Please park just off Manystones Lane. Please wear warm clothing and stout footwear and bring a packed lunch. This is a one-day field trip to examine the Brassington Formation of Miocene age in the High Peak of Derbyshire. The onshore UK is not well known for Miocene sediments (there is a major hiatus between the Oligocene and the Pliocene in southeast England) and the Brassington Formation is the best example of sediments in karstic fills which survived Late Neogene and Quaternary erosion. The Brassington Tertiary (Miocene) sand, clay and gravel deposits infill karstic cavities in dolomitised Carboniferous Limestone. Tuesday 25 June 2019 – 7.00 pm Leader: Paul Chandler (PDMHS) Goodluck lead mine, Bonsall Meeting place: Layby on A5012 Via Gellia Road from Cromford to Newhaven (grid ref SK 269566) 1.0 miles west of The Woodside Café. This evening underground visit to an old Peak District lead mine that has been conserved by a dedicated group of mining history enthusiasts is an easy grade trip, with mostly walking/stooping size passages and dry – apart from the odd puddle. Well worth bringing a camera for the superb mine inscriptions, artefacts and displays. Wear old clothes or overalls. Helmet & cap lamps provided. £5 donation fee per person. Saturday / Sunday 27th-28th July 2019 – 10.00 am Geology of Anglesey Leader: Ian Stimpson of Keele University Meeting Place: Marquis of Anglesey’s column car park on north side of A5 (not the A55) 400 m west of the A5 / A55 junction at Llanfair P.G. LL61 5NG Saturday 27th July 2019 10:00-11:30am Marquis of Anglesey's Monument, LlanfairPG - Introduction & Blueschists (Precambrian) 12:00-14:30pm Lunch + Llanddwyn Island, Newborough- Gwna Group (Precambrian-Cambrian) 15:00-17:00pm Rhoscolyn, near Holyhead - South Stack Group (Cambrian-Ordovician) Sunday 28th July 2019 10:00-11:30am Red Wharf Bay - Carboniferous Limestone and palaeokarst, (Carboniferous & Quaternary). 12:00-14:30pm Lunch + Lligwy Bay - Fluvial sandstones & structure (Devonian) 15:00-17:00pm Parys Mountain - Copper Mineralisation (Ordovician-Silurian) This is a chance to see the wide range of geological and structural environments for which Anglesey is famous together with a visit to the amazing landscape of the Parys Mountain copper mine and its precipitating ponds. Saturday 14th September 2019 – 10,00 am Leader: Adam Garbutt (St Gobain – Formula) Bantycock Opencast Gypsum Mine Meeting Place: Bantycock Quarry, Staple Lane, New Balderton, Newark-on-Trent NG24 3EP This is a chance to see a working quarry and associated operations at the Bantycock facility of St Gobain. We will be escorted by company personnel at all times. The quarry works a number of gypsum seams in the Triassic Branscombe Mudstone Formation. Quarrying and company regulations require that all members of the party must wear High-vis protective clothing, hard hat, suitable protective footwear, eye protection and gloves. Anyone without suitable protection will not be allowed onto the site. All these items (apart from footwear) can be bought from The Range store at reasonable cost. Insurance and Safety Members are reminded that the Society has only public liability insurance and that personal accident insurance is a matter for individual members to arrange as they consider necessary. Up to date hard hats are obligatory for all field excursions involving quarries or cliff faces and strongly recommended for all trips. High visibility clothing is sometimes required in working quarries. High visibility tabards can be obtained from GA Enterprises, 126 Fleetside, W. Molesey, Surrey KT8 2NQ at £4.70 incl. pp. Members without suitable hard hats may be refused access to certain sites! Hard hats can be obtained from many Builders’ Merchants, Wickes, B&Q Warehouse etc. for about £4. Any non-members attending field excursions will have to pay a temporary membership fee of £2.00 and all participants are reminded that they must comply with any instructions from excursion leaders or, for example, quarry managers or their employees on Health & Safety issues. EMGS Council At the AGM on the 9th March 2019 the following members were elected to serve on Council for the coming year: President - Mike Allen Vice-President - Vanessa Banks Secretary - Janet Slatter Treasurer - Colin Bagshaw Editor - Tony Waltham Ordinary members of Council: David Bate, Peter Beastall, Bob Brown, Mike Crow, Peter Jones, and Ian Sutton. SUBSCRIPTIONS A reminder that these were due on 1st February. Subscription rates remain unchanged and are as follows: Individual - £18.00 Joint - £22.00 Full time student - £5.00 If you currently pay by standing order, no money is outstanding. Please can those of you who do not pay their subscription by standing order let the Treasurer have your payment as soon as possible. If you don’t pay by standing order please consider doing so as our bank now charge a fee of 50p for each cheque processed. If you require a standing order form please contact the Treasurer. You could also pay by BACS (which incurs no charge). Our bank details are as follows: East Midlands Geological Society The Cooperative Bank Sort Code: 08-90-74 Account No: 50050217 *New EMGS Book – Derbyshire Blue John* This new publication is a Third Edition, edited by Tony Waltham and Noel Worley, of the book by Trevor Ford which was first published in 2000, and now updated with superb colour photographs and much additional information.