Next week - dates for your diary

Thursday September 4th

Bath Geological Society
Club Evening
(click here for details)

Sunday September 7th
Field Trip
Upper By Brook Valley - Landscape and Geological Trail
with Isobel Geddes & Elizabeth Devon
The By Brook valley cuts deeply down into the southern Cotswold Hills as a result of slow but steady uplift of the land. The river cuts down through three Jurassic rock formations;
Forest Marble, Great Oolite and Fuller's Earth.
This trail shows how geology is linked to the activities of the people living here.
Meet at 10.30am near Giddeahall GR ST 859747 just south west
of the junction of the A420 with the road from Biddestone.
Strong shoes, waterproofs and packed lunches are required.

Fancy a trip to Edinburgh?

Fancy a trip to Edinburgh? Stuart Monro, WEGA's Horstmann Lecturer of 2007, and Scientific Director of Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh, has agreed to show us the Geological Sights.
At the moment the programme is -
1. Meet at Dynamic Earth on the morning of Saturday 25th October for a tour of the Dynamic Earth galleries under the guidance of Stuart.
2. After lunch, a geological excursion round Arthur's Seat. This is an ancient volcano which abuts Dynamic Earth. This will be led by Stuart and will include the section where Hutton proved the intrusive nature of igneous rocks.
3. On Sunday morning, 26th October, an excursion to a nearby locality - maybe North Berwick or Dunbar and, hopefully, by public transport.
The best bet for transport seems to be Easyjet. You can get to Edinburgh and back again for £88 (including most of the "extras"). National Express coaches take about 12 hours and cost about £70. The train takes the strain for £131.
There is a wide variety of accommodation in Edinburgh, varying from the cheap and cheerful to the luxurious. Google Edinburgh Accommodation and make your choice. Remember that there are more than geological reasons for visiting the Scottish Capital. Your partner may want to visit the galleries or the shops or take in a concert or theatre on the Saturday evening. It is not necessary to attend all that I have arranged with Stuart.
Contact WEGA if you are interested; (go to 'About us' at the top of the WEGA home page for email addresses).

No Curator of Geology at Bristol Museum??

Did you realise that no geological curator has been appointed since the departure of Dr. Tim Ewin, despite the fact that Bristol’s geological collection is the sixth largest Museum collection in Britain?
Until now, the Museum has had a specialist Geology Curator for about 180 years. Bristol’s excellence in the preparation and display of fossil vertebrates has continued down to the present day. This is acknowledged internationally. Accessions include one of the most complete Pliosaurs ever discovered, the oldest Stegosaur ever discovered, and, recently, the best preserved dinosaur (Scelidosaurus - photo) ever found in Britain. The Geology galleries are amongst the top three visitor attractions in the Museum and the material includes several National Heritage collections.
For the first time in almost two centuries, Bristol is currently without a specialist Geology Curator. Not only does the curator look after the collection but is a source of geological expertise for the public.
Send letters of protest to:-
Director Museums, Galleries and Archives
Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery
Queens Road
Bristol BS8 1RL

Bath GS Club Evening - September 4th

You are all invited to

Bath Geological Society's Club Evening
September 4th, 7.30 p.m.
BRLSI, 16 Queen Square, Bath
Bring your own fossils/collection
Tell us about your geo-adventures
Bring your specimens for identification (hopefully)
Enjoy a glass of wine and nibbles while you watch
the amazing 'Atmosphere and ocean in a tank'
See ripple marks form before your eyes
Make the Himalayas in 30 seconds!
Plus more geo-entertainment.
Free to members, £3 for visitors.

Rock It - Monday August 25th

Hope to see you all on the Bristol to Bath cycle path for this annual event - click here for details.
We should be very pleased to receive any fossil and mineral specimens that you no longer want; we give these to the children to try to encourage an interest.

New Publication - Innovation and Discovery

This new book is published by Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution and the William Herschel Society of Bath. It is to be launched on 22nd November 2008 but is now on a special pre-publication offer - for more information and Order Forms click here.
Free copies will be donated to schools/universities in the area.

NEW - Palaeontological Award Scheme

This message is to alert everyone in Geologists' Association Local Groups to a new palaeontological award scheme that has just been set up between the Natural History Museum and the Marsh Christian Trust Marsh Christian Trust. The Marsh Christian Trust is a charitable organisation that already sponsors more than 20 annual awards in science - there are no religious connotations or links to the awards.
The award consists of a certificate, £1000 prize and travel expenses to be presented after the Natural History Museum Annual Earth Science lecture on 6th November 2008.
The first Marsh Palaeontology Award is now open for nominations until 30th September 2008. Please consider submitting nominations - especially from 'unsung heroes' from the amateur palaeontological community, although the scheme is open to professional palaeontologists too.

Help please! Some identification needed

Please can you help to identify any of the rocks and/or structures in these photographs - click here. All were taken on beaches in Dorset, Devon, Cornwall or Somerset. Some localities are known.
Please send your responses to Rosingrave by email

Rock and Fossil Fun on the Bristol and Bath Railway Path

Book the date - Bank Holiday Monday 25 August 2008, between 10am and 4pm.
Find out more about the local rocks and fossils at the Rock & Fossil event on the Railway Path at Saltford.

Local experts will be on hand to talk about the rocks and fossils and why it is important to protect and promote them. Bring along any interesting rocks, fossils and minerals you would like identified.

For children there will be an additional attraction - free fossils and minerals to take away.

If you are on the Path on the Bank Holiday Monday in August make sure you stop.

For more information about the event, please contact Simon Carpenter - email or 0117 900 2193.
Click here for more information about the path.

Membership secretary needed

Bath Geological Society is losing its membership secretary - PLEASE can you help?
This person is a member of the committee, maintains the membership list, collects annual subscriptions and greets people at the door, taking visitors' payments. We have three or four committee meetings a year and communicate mostly by email.
However, if you feel you would like to join the committee before taking on an active role, then please contact us - email. We do have some vacancies.