More details of WEGA's trip to Seaton

Trip to Seaton in June

More details are emerging of WEGA's trip to Seaton on the 28th June. 

John McLellan writes:-

This is a visit to Seaton Jurassic Visitor Centre on Thurs 28 June 2018.  The event starts at Seaton Jurassic (parking adjacent) at 10.15 (2 hour drive from Bristol) with a guided tour of the exhibit.  After an hour or so, we will have coffee/tea in their meeting room and be joined by Jurassic Coast Ambassador Mike Green.  He and I will give a talk about the geology of the Jurassic Coast.  

At c.12.30, we can walk a half-mile onto the sea front promenade and cliff-top gardens.  There is a geology trail here and a good viewpoint – and a place to have a packed lunch.  There are also places to buy ice-creams.  Then we walk along the prom’ a bit more, look at some greensand fossiliferous boulders on the beach (maybe) via Triassic red cliffs  up some steps (a faultline) alongside the Cretaceous and then a gently rising path towards Beer.  We can either descend to Beer and/or turn back.  But Beer is worth the effort to see the massive chalk cliffs.  The whole round trip is 3-4 miles. 

We will aim to be back at the carpark for a 4pm departure.  Back in Bristol c.6pm. 

Currently I have drawn a blank on getting a mini-bus, so we may need to do car shares and I can certainly take 3 people.  I will keep trying re bus but can discuss at the AGM. 

The guided tour and coffee/biscuits will be £10 per head.

West Country Geology field programme 2013

A meeting was held at Box during August where it was agreed by representatives of BNS Geology Section, Bath Geological Society and West of England Geologists’ Association that, as a one-year trial, the three societies will organise a joint programme of field meetings for 2013.  This should be of benefit to members of all the societies, as we can all draw on a wider base of expertise, avoid clashes and repetitions, and ensure good attendance.  I am sure that this will be a positive improvement for all involved.
Please add any comments, thoughts and suggestions to this post.

Mountains in the Sea

WEGA's first talk of the new season is 'Mountains in the Sea' to be given by Prof. Tony Watts, Professor of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Oxford. 
Tuesday 9th October, 19.30 
Wills Memorial Building, Bristol
Prof. Watts' recent work attracted much media attention late last year, with pictures showing volcanic seamounts being subducted into an oceanic trench in the Pacific Ocean.
Everyone is welcome.

Profs Brian Williams and Iain Stewart

WEGA - next Tuesday evening, 8th November
'Rivers, rocks reservoirs and oil'
Prof Brian Williams (Aberdeen University)
Wills Memorial Building, Park Street, Bristol , 7.30pm.
Also, December 6th, 'Seismic faults and sacred sanctuaries',
Prof. Iain Stewart (Plymouth University)
Chew Valley School Hall, Chew Magna, Bristol BS40 8QB
Everyone welcome - check WEGA website for further details

8th November - Tracking Gondwanan ice sheets

This has changed - please view the latest post (above).
WEGA - next Tuesday evening, 8th November
Tracking Gondwanan Ice sheets using sedimentology and zircon dating - Oman and Australia
Prof Brian Williams (Aberdeen University)
Everyone welcome - Wills Memorial Building, Park Street, Bristol , 7.30pm.

Two dates from WEGA - April 24th and May 10th

Easter Sunday - 24th April - A Geological Traverse across North Wiltshire with Dave Green
This trip will start in the mid- Jurassic near Alderton, travel across the Oxford clay to the Corallian escarpment, then onto the mud springs in Kimmeridge Clay, and finishing in the Cretaceous with the Chalk near Hackpen Hill.
Registration and booking needed by deadline of Friday 15 April, via WEGA web site.
10th May - WEGA AGM - Wills Memorial Building, 7.30 p.m.

14th December - Bristol Red and Bristol Blue

´Bristol Red and Bristol Blue´ by Ian Donaldson on Tuesday 14th December, Dept of Earth Sciences, Wills Building, University of Bristol, 7.30.
Everyone knows of Bristol Blue cobalt glass, but few have heard of William Cookworthy's involvement with it, and his three important discoveries. Few too have heard of Bristol Red. It depended crucially on Alum. An Elizabethan naturalist discovered the secret of making alum from shale, and broke a lucrative Papal monopoly during The Reformation. This was the start of an industry based on rocks dug from the North Yorkshire coast, the Thames Estuary, and at Campsie, near Glasgow. Alum was made in Bristol for over a hundred years, until the 1970s.
Everyone is welcome - mince pies and refreshments - courtesy of WEGA.