JOURNAL OF The Russell Society Volume 19, 2016 www.russellsoc.org JOURNAL OF THE RUSSELL SOCIETY The journal of British Isles topographical mineralogy EDITOR Dr Malcolm Southwood 7 Campbell Court, Warrandyte, Victoria 3113, Australia. ([email protected]) JOURNAL MANAGER Frank Ince 78 Leconfield Road, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3SQ. EDITORIAL BOARD R.E. Bevins, Cardiff, U.K. M.T. Price, OUMNH, Oxford, U.K. R.S.W. Braithwaite, Manchester, U.K. M.S. Rumsey, NHM, London, U.K. A. Dyer, Hoddlesden, Darwen, U.K. R.E. Starkey, Bromsgrove, U.K. N.J. Elton, St Austell, U.K. P.A. Williams, Kingswood, Australia. I.R. Plimer, Kensington Gardens, S. Australia. Aims and Scope: The Journal publishes refereed articles by both amateur and professional mineralogists dealing with all aspects of mineralogy relating to the British Isles. Contributions are welcome from both members and non-members of the Russell Society. Notes for contributors can be found at the back of this issue, on the Society website (www.russellsoc.org) or obtained from the Editor or Journal Manager. Subscription rates: The Journal is free to members of the Russell Society. The non-member subscription rates for this volume are: UK £13 (including P&P) and Overseas £15 (including P&P). Enquiries should be made to the Journal Manager at the above address. Back numbers of the Journal may also be ordered through the Journal Manager. The Russell Society: named after the eminent amateur mineralogist Sir Arthur Russell (1878–1964), is a society of amateur and professional mineralogists which encourages the study, recording and conservation of mineralogical sites and material. For information about membership, refer to the Society website www.russellsoc.org or write to the Membership Secretary, Neil Hubbard, 30 Thirlmere Road, Barrow-upon-Soar, Leicestershire, LE12 8QQ. Printed by: Flexpress Ltd, 8 Coal Cart Road, Interchange, Birstall, Leicester, LE4 3BY. Published by: The Russell Society. Registered Charity No. 803308. Copyright: Whilst the Russell Society retains the copyright to the printed journal, the copyright of the text is not necessarily held by the Society. Permission to reproduce any text, figures or photographs from the articles must be obtained from the Journal Manager. The views and opinions expressed in this journal are not necessarily those of the Editor, the Society or the Editorial Board. ISSN 0263 7839 FRONT COVER: A polished section of massive iron ore showing drusy, jasper-red quartz forming veinlets parallel to the banding, overgrown by fine-grained hematite. Hafotty-fâch, Cadair Idris, North Wales. Field of view 20 mm across. National Museum of Wales specimen (NMW 2016.13G.M.3b); scanned image by John Mason. BACK COVER: A happy Bob Symes proudly displaying a copy of Minerals of Northern England. Roy Starkey photograph. Journal of the Russell Society CONTENTS Volume 19, 2016 EDITORIAL 2 OBITUARY Robert Fredrick Symes (1939–2016) Roy Starkey 3–6 PAPERS The Gordon Collection - the Vicar, the Brewer and the Mineral Dealer Roy Starkey 7–23 Herderite-hydroxylherderite series minerals from Chywoon Quarry, Cornwall Tom F. Cotterell, Neil Hubbard and David Moulding 24–27 A review of United Kingdom herderite localities attributed to Arthur Kingsbury Mike S. Rumsey 27–34 NOTE An occurrence of euhedral schulenbergite at the Penberthy Croft Mine, Cornwall John Betterton and Ian E. Grey 34–35 PAPERS The first occurrence of mandarinoite, Fe2(SeO3)3·6H2O, in the British Isles, from cliffs near Ballybunion, Co. Kerry, Ireland Mike S. Rumsey 35–38 Segnitite from Weardale, County Durham Brian Young and Adam Pacey 39–42 Exhalative banded iron oxide mineralisation associated with Middle Ordovician pillow basalts from Cadair Idris, North Wales John S. Mason 42–50 Journal of the Russell Society (2016) 1 EDItorIAL Welcome to Volume 19 of the Journal of the Russell Society. We were saddened, early in 2016, to learn of the passing of Bob Symes, former Keeper of Mineralogy at the Natural History Museum in London, and an enduring friend of the Russell Society over many years; indeed, Bob served as our Society President between 1989 and 1993. Roy Starkey has penned an obituary that provides a fine tribute to Bob not only as an eminent mineralogical professional, but also as the approachable, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and generous individual that many of us knew so well. Roy Starkey is also the author of the first of the papers in Volume 19. While engaged in research for his book on the minerals of the Cairngorms, Roy became aware of the Gordon Collection, housed at the University of Aberdeen, in Scotland. The history of this collection is interesting, not least because a number of the specimens can be matched to items in the auction catalogues of the renowned mineral dealer John Henry Heuland. From the other end of the United Kingdom, Tom Cotterell and his co-authors provide us with a description of the first confirmed and analysed British occurrence of herderite-hydroxylherderite series minerals, from Chywoon Quarry, in Cornwall. There are, however, four other Cornish localities at which the late Arthur Kingsbury claimed to have found herderite. In a companion paper to Cotterell et al., Mike Rumsey has re-examined Kingsbury’s herderite specimens and field notes and concluded that they are almost certainly not from the British localities to which Kingsbury attributed them. Staying in Cornwall, John Betterton describes a recent discovery of euhedral crystals of schulenbergite, from the dumps at Penberthy Croft. We then cross the Irish Sea and travel to the far south-west of the Emerald Isle, to Ballybunnion, in County Kerry, from where Mike Rumsey describes the first occurrence in the British Isles of mandarinoite, the rare iron selenite. Back in England, but at the northern end of the realm on this occasion, Brian Young and Adam Pacey report on the first occurrence of segnitite in the Pennines, discovered in the supergene zone of the Slitt Vein, at Heights Pasture Mine, Weardale, an area not normally associated with arsenic minerals. Finally, John Mason takes us across the border into North Wales to consider the geology and mineralogy of some exhalative banded iron oxide mineralisation from Cadair Idris. I would like to thank all of the contributors to this year’s volume of the Journal, not only the authors but also the referees who effectively share the editorial task with me. A special word of thanks is due to Frank Ince who, in the absence of a fresh volunteer, has generously continued as our Journal Manager for another year. Rumours of Frank’s retirement, it seems, were premature; however, I suspect that he would be delighted to talk with anyone who might consider taking on the Journal management role in the coming months. Malcolm Southwood Honorary Journal Editor 2 Journal of the Russell Society (2016) ROBERT FREDERICK SYMES 1939–2016 Robert Frederick Symes, known universally as Bob, has been a prominent figure in British mineralogy and geology for around 50 years. Many members will have known, or met, Bob Symes, either in his capacity as Honorary President of the Society from 1989–1993, through his employment at the Natural History Museum, or simply as a consequence of his outreach activities in giving talks, leading field meetings and attending mineral shows. I first met Bob in 1982 when he came to stay with us at our home in Dudley as a guest speaker to the West Midlands Mineral and Gemstone Society, of which I was then Secretary. I had contacted the late Peter Embrey at the Natural History Museum to invite him to come and talk to us about his involvement in the production of a facsimile reprint of Greg and Lettsom’s classic 1858 work on the mineralogy of Great Britain and Ireland. Peter had declined the invitation owing to pressure of work on “the book in which I am currently engaged on the minerals of Cornwall and Devon” (Embrey and Symes, 1987), but kindly delegated the task to Bob. In later years, Bob told me that the overdue publication of the book led to the Bob Symes signing copies of Minerals of Northern England Museum authorities chasing Peter for a commitment to at the book launch hosted at Killhope Lead Mining Museum. Roy Starkey photograph. a completion date, whereupon Peter, not always known for his tact and diplomacy, apparently said “get Symes waiting for the train one of the athletes came and sat down to write it and I’ll turn it into English!”. Bob contributed next to Bob. He was just thrilled, and especially so when the geology chapter and some other sections of the book, it turned out that the star was none other than the Dutch and provided a stimulus for Peter. Whatever the process, sprinter Fanny Blankers-Koen, who became known as we are all grateful to the pair of them for seeing it through ‘The Flying Housewife’, winning four gold medals in to eventual publication. athletics. After finishing his school studies Bob joined the staff of the British Museum (Natural History) in South Kensington on 1st October 1957, as Assistant Scientific Officer. He attended evening classes and worked his way up, via part-time studies at Birkbeck College of the University of London, and gaining his BSc in geology. Bob completed his National Service in the RAF from 1959–1961, during which time a serendipitous posting to Weston-super-Mare enabled him to explore the geology and minerals of the Mendip Hills, an area which became of intense interest to him. One of his early career tasks, which no doubt sparked his detailed interest in Sir Arthur Russell, was to be despatched, with his colleague the late John Fuller, to Swallowfield Park near Reading in 1964 to pack up Sir Arthur’s fine collection of minerals and bring it to the Museum.