Field Trip Proposal by Nick Chidlaw

Nick Chidlaw is proposing to run a field trip entitled:-

GEOLOGY OF THE PERMIAN STRATA OF COUNTY DURHAM, NORTH EAST ENGLAND

which sounds rather good. He introduces it as follows:-

-------------------------------------

June 2025 

Dear All,  

It has been very gratifying the level of interest and enrolments on the courses and field trips I have proposed and run during last year, and to learn from a number of attendees, particularly on recent events, that they would be interested in further field-based ones during 2025. 

I am proposing a 4 day field trip, to be run in late October this year, which interested parties may be available to attend. This focuses on the Permian strata of County Durham, in NE England. People who’ve studied Permian rocks in the S of England (exposed extensively in eastern Devon) will note that these were 

formed in a continental desert environment, under a hot dry climate. The crust that became the British Isles was located just N of the equator; the Permian period extending from 299 to 252 Ma. Other strata deposited under similar conditions of this age occur extensively in parts of SW and S Scotland, and NW 

England.  

Such continental sediments also occur in NE England, but are overlain by thicker and more extensive marine strata of this age. Outcrops of marine Permian occur locally in other parts of Britain, but are very small compared with that found in County Durham. It is in the latter that study of a wider range of Permian environments can be made than elsewhere in Britain. All these strata in County Durham have greater affinity with those of a similar age in mainland Europe, together with the area in between under the North Sea (known from hydrocarbon exploration): some of the stratigraphic names in County Durham reflect this, utilising terms applied in Germany. The Permian strata in County Durham are impressive, reflecting a range 

of environments that were highly diverse. In addition, the effect of post-depositional changes to the marine Permian rocks of the area are striking: from the development of bizarrely-structured concretions in carbonate deposits, through wholesale dissolution of evaporite stratigraphic units, to the formation of collapse structures and breccias in the rocks overlying these formerly-present strata.     

On the proposed field trip, two days visit locations inland, and two days to coastal locations. Tidal conditions on the two coastal dates are optimum to allow visits to be carried out safely and for longer than otherwise.       

This part of England is perhaps perceived by some who have not so far visited it, to be unattractive in appearance, it being a key location in Britain’s past for heavy industry, particularly ship-building and coal mining.  In actuality, the environment is largely agricultural, with a highly attractive coastline, and negative 

features on the landscape from these past industries have essentially been removed.  I have travelled widely in County Durham, the infrastructure is modern and well–developed, and urban areas whether large or small, are for the most part pleasant in appearance.     

Accommodation Factor  

Ideally, enrollees would arrange accommodation on or near to the coastal area, thereby minimising time needed to travel to most locations each day of the itinerary. This field trip was previously run in June 2019, and when arranging it earlier that year we discovered that a lot of available accommodation in the coastal 

area (the ideal location for the trip) had already been booked up. Some of the field party then had to arrange accommodation further inland, resulting in longer travel times to get to and from most of the field locations.  

The dates of the current proposal, being in late October, will hopefully allow for more accommodation to be available than during summer months, and enrollees may be able to book nearer to, or on, the coast.  

These dates are also chosen to avoid booking Friday and Saturday nights which will be attractive to people 

wanting to stay in the area just for a weekend.  

Tidal and Daylight Factors  

A number of key locations to be visited on this field trip are coastal and subject to tidal conditions. The dates proposed take this into account, enabling safe access to exposures for as long as possible.  

The dates are within Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), the clocks having just changed from British Summer Time going back 1 hour. This means sunset will be at around 4. 40 pm. We would ensure we complete the itinerary each day while enough daylight remains; this could involve starting the itinerary earlier each day: field events I run usually have a programme of geological study between 10.00 am and 5.00 pm; this could be adjusted to 9.30 am – 4.30 pm so that everything is completed in good time.  

I hope you find the proposal (see below) of interest and are available to attend. I look forward to hearing 

from you.  

Regards, 

Nick Chidlaw nickchidlaw@gmail.com  

------------------------------------

Nick gives very full details of the trip which are too long for this blog post. You can download it in its entirety HERE.