Events in July

3rd July - The History and Hydrogeology of the Minor Spas of South West England. This talk is organised by Bath Geological Society and is to be given by Professor John Mather.
"From Elizabethan times onwards, wealthy people of rank travelled to centres such as Bath and Buxton to "take the waters". In addition to these large centres, a network of minor spas developed to provide for the middle and professional classes and for the poor. A number of small spas in Somerset and Dorset achieved brief fame in the following centuries for the medicinal properties of their waters. There was such a rush to Alford Spa, near Castle Cary, in the 1670s that there was insufficient water to serve all the patrons. Horwood Spa, near Wincanton, had its own bank in 1809 although the enterprise was bankrupt by 1819. Nottington Spa, near Weymouth, was described as 'the only pure sulphureous spa in England'. The history and geology of these and other minor spas will be described and the origin of the mineral waters discussed."

July 6th - following the talk - Trip to Malvern to look at the Hydrogeology of the various springs and the history of Hydropathy in Malvern - Meet at 10.00 a.m. at Great Malvern beneath the Abbey Gateway and the museum. Further details are on the website. Email or 'phone 01249 813628 to let us know you are coming.

July 6th - organised by WEGA - The industrial archaeology of the lead mining industry of the Mendips. We intend to look at Charterhouse and Velvet Bottom. In this area the industry has been in existence since at least Roman times - some say that the Romans invaded Britain to get control of the lead and silver mines. And mining continued into the early years of the twentieth century.
If you would like to attend this trip, contact WEGA via the website.

Fast forming mountain ranges

A member of WEGA has recommended this site - click here.
Mountain ranges are so big, and continental plates move so slowly, that common wisdom suggests they must take millions of years to form. This seems to have been confirmed in the past with limited data sets that show the timing of their uplift; however, a recent paper in Science and another in Earth and Planetary Science Letters have suggested that uplift may occur much more rapidly in some cases.

New 'East Mendip Study Centre'

This fantastic new centre will replace the Mendip Quarry Producers' East Mendip Study Centre at Hanson's Whatley Quarry. It is an architect-designed, single storey building next to Wainwright's Moon's Hill Quarry at Stoke St. Michael. It is a carbon neutral building with its own wind-powered generator and a high thermal mass. It includes traditional and sustainable construction materials and is sited alongside former quarry workings which have been restored into a lake and nature reserve.
It has been funded principally by the Somerset Minerals Forum, Somerset County Council's aggregates levy sustainability fund and the Mendip Quarry Producers (MQP), a trade association representing all the major quarrying companies in Somerset.

Geology of Italy

Those of you travelling to Italy might like to know about the Geological Survey of Italy.

Terrain Builder

Have you seen this software - TerrainBuilder?
Also to be recommended is the Soils website where it is mentioned. These are excellent resources. Thank you Hugh.