24th January - Ramblers Walk - Wiltshire

January 24th Ramblers Walk around Potterne
Led by Judy Hible ( 01249-701265) 
10.30 a.m.
My Ramblers walk on Sunday morning passes along Coxhill Lane, a hollow way in the Upper Greensand, much-used locally for building with doggers and for fossils.
Our 4 ½ mile walk starts in Potterne. The walk, which is graded as “moderate” goes via the hill at Potterne Field, out to Ninehills, then past Sleight farm down into the Stert valley, and then back via Potterne wood and Coxhill lane. Please bring a snack/coffee and we aim to be back at the cars for lunch. There are pubs in Potterne.
Please park thoughtfully in Silver street (ST 998 586 on O/S Explorer 130) 
Lifts are suggested at £2.40. and we leave Bath Road car park (ST 918 734 on O/S Explorer 156) at 10:00a.m.

Geology of the Salisbury Cathedral Close

The Wiltshire Geology Group has just produced a new  geological guide for an hour or so self-guided walk round the Salisbury Cathedral Close. It is in a 12 page concertina and laminated form to make it handy and waterproof to carry in the hand. It explores the local geology and how this is reflected in the materials used to construct this exquisite space within the heart of Salisbury.
It is priced at just £2 and available from the Cathedral and Museum shops and the Sarum Bookshop.

Wiltshire Geology Group AGM - August 10th

Wiltshire Geology Group AGM
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, Devizes
Monday 10th August 2015 at 7pm.
Please contact the secretary if you wish to receive the agenda or minutes from 2014. Nominations for the roles of chairman, secretary or treasurer must be received prior to the AGM.
If the door to the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust is locked when you arrive for the AGM, or if you arrive slightly late, please follow the directions on the front door, where there will be a mobile 'phone number.
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust
Elm Tree Court
Long Street
Devizes
SN10 1NJ

Leigh Delamere site - worth a visit

Members of Wiltshire Geology Group did an incredibly successful clearance at this site last Sunday. The Leigh Delamere geological site is now definitely worth another visit. It's in the garden of the Travel Lodge on the north side of the M4 motorway at Leigh Delamere Services.

28th February and 1st March - Geoconservation at Brown's Folly and Leigh Delamere

Saturday 28th February - Brown's Folly
This is our annual clear-up of the Geological sites on this SSSI reserve. Come along with gardening tools or just take the opportunity to visit the sites and talk about geology.
Meet at 10.30 a.m. at Brown's Folly Car Park (G.R. ST 798663). Strong boots and waterproofs are required. Hard hats should be worn under or near exposures. Please bring one if you can; we do have some available. 
Contact Bath Geological Society 

Sunday 1st March - Leigh Delamere
Leigh Delamere Services occupy the site of an old quarry where an extensive rock face can still be examined by the public.  The interpretation board, located in front of the rock face, explains the history of the rocks, how they formed under the sea and why they are being protected for future research and general interest.
Meet at 10.00am at Travelodge Garden, Leigh Delamere Services, M4 Eastbound. Access is either from the minor road through Kington St. Michael (running from the A350 just north of Chippenham) and crossing over the M4, or from the M4 motorway, taking the Moto Leigh Delamere Services exit between junctions 18 (Bath) and 17 (Chippenham) –the site is beside the Travelodge on the eastbound side of the motorway, behind the Moto restaurant and shops. There is a footbridge across from the westbound side.
It is important for everyone to bring strong gloves to help clear the vegetation and if you would like to help cut down the vegetation and you have own saws, shears or secateurs please feel free to bring them along.
Contact Wiltshire Geology Group
 

Wilshire Geology Group AGM - Thursday 31st July

Wiltshire Geology Group invite everyone to its AGM
7 p.m. on Thursday 31st July.
Come and find out what we have done in the last year.
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust
Elm Tree Court, Long Street, Devizes SN10 1NJ

Become a young Rock Detective - 28th October & 9th November

28th October - Become a young Rock Detective!
At the Court Hill Centre in Wantage (off A338). OX12 9NE, OS Map Ref SU394849
Fabulous Fossils and more: including an introduction to geology, fossil handling & identification, recognising rock properties and walking a landscape trail in the grounds of the centre.
For children aged 6 to 12, accompanied by an adult.
Cost £3.00 per child.
Organised by the Oxfordshire Geology Trust with support from the North Wessex Downs AONB
Booking essential, please email

9th November - Become a young Rock Detective!
At Devizes Museum
Lots of hands-on practical activities organised by Wiltshire Geology Group
Booking essential
For further details contact the Education Officer at the Museum.

Urgent request for a Treasurer

Wiltshire Geology Group needs a Treasurer urgently.  It is one of the three key voluntary positions vital to our survival (as per our constitution)!
The job of Treasurer is to monitor the finances of the WGG, in liaison with the Secretary and Project Officer/manager.
Please contact Isobel Geddes for further information.

East Knoyle: geology, landscapes and building stones walk

Saturday 15th October 2.00pm (finishing 4.30 - 5.00pm)
Isobel Geddes will lead a 2-3 mile walk around East Knoyle for the Cranborne Chase & North Wessex Downs AONB & Wiltshire Geology Group looking at Greensand and Chalk geology and how it affects the landscape and local buildings.
Meet at Windmill Hill on the road by the viewpoint west of the old windmill GR ST 872 311 (lay-by near the viewpoint)
Cost: £1.50 for Wiltshire Geology Group members (and for associated groups), £3 for non-members, payable on arrival.
Terrain: hilly, but on public footpaths - wear suitable walking shoes (maybe wet/muddy) - waterproofs required. Dogs welcome (on a lead)
Length of walk: 2-3 miles taking approximately 2.5 - 3 hours
Booking essential: Tel. 01380 871008 or email.

Salisbury Cathedral building stones - 29th October

Steve Hannath, from the Wiltshire Geology Group, has kindly offered to give a presentation on 'The Cathedral Rocks - The Earth Materials used in the Construction of Salisbury Cathedral' on Saturday 29th October 2011. Agenda for the day:
- 1.30pm - meet in the cloister corner in the west corridor by the main visitor entrance to the Cathedral - to save time people should make their donation (requested voluntary donations Adults £5.50; Seniors/Students £4.50; Groups £4.50) at the desk before meeting up. People would, of course, be free to arrive in Salisbury at any time for the market/retail therapy and spend time looking at the Chapter house (Magna Carta)/lunch etc.
15 - 20 minutes guided tour to the Cathedral with a look at the main building materials. People would then be free to continue looking round on their own.
- 3.00pm - Make your way to Salisbury & South Wilts Museum (across the Close from the Cathedral about 200metres). There will be no charge for entering the museum but there is an expectation that people who wish to visit the general exhibits would pay the normal entry fee. There is a very nice cafe in the museum and also one in the Cathedral. You should make your way to the Lecture Hall for:
- 3.20pm - 4.30 - Lecture with questions at the end.
- 5.00pm Salisbury & South Wilts Museum closes.
Booking essential as numbers are limited to 20-25. Please contact Steve Hannath by email or on 01722 326714 by  20th October for further information, or if you would like to attend.

Dates for your Diary

* September 10th - Exploring Bradford on Avon with Isobel Geddes, Wiltshire Geology Group
See Bath GS website for details.
* September 17th - Guided Walk to De La Beche Site and Tedbury Camp with Vicki Griffiths
See Mendip Rocks for details.
*September 18th - Guided Walk at Uphill Quarry, near Weston-super-Mare, Chris Richards, North Somerset Council Ranger Service
See Mendip Rocks for details.
* September 19th - 'The Marlborough Mound and the other Giants of Wessex' talk by Jim Leary of English Heritage
See Wiltshire GG website for details.
* September 28th - Guided geology/archaeology gallery tour at Weston-super-Mare Museum, with Jane Hill, Weston-super-Mare Town Council
See Mendip Rocks for details.
* October 1st - Family Fun Day at Somerset Earth Science Centre with Christopher Hancock
See Mendip Rocks for details.
* October 6th - 'Feeding Stonehenge: what isotopes can reveal about the origin of people and their food' - talk by Professor Jane Evans
See Bath GS website for details.
* October 12th - Guided Walk around Black Rock/Long Wood Nature Reserve with Chris Richards
See Mendip Rocks for details.
* October 15th - East Knoyle: geology, landscapes and building stones with Isobel Geddes, Wiltshire Geology Group 
See Wiltshire GG website for details.

6th March - Bradford on Avon clay pit

Bradford on Avon Museum is holding a William Smith Exhibition in 2011 and there are going to be events celebrating this. In 2008 the Wiltshire Geology Group spent a day excavating a site alongside the canal at Bradford-on-Avon Clay pit. The site now requires a tidy-up and the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust volunteers have arranged work party dates throughout January, February and March.
WGG has arranged to help with the tidy-up on Sunday 6th March 2011 at 10am at the canal/marina tea room by the lock on the Kennet & Avon Canal at Bradford on Avon.
If you are interested and are able to help please bring gloves and hand tools, including brooms.
All volunteers welcome.

Blockley Fossils

The final field trip to Blockley Quarry was very successful - mentioned in the post of 13th October. Lots and lots of fossils were found, some of which are illustrated. Thanks to Richard for the photos; he says the ammonite looks identical to the one on page 102 of 'British Mesozoic Fossils', i.e. Lipoceras cheltiense, but the bivalves are harder to identify. Can anyone help?

Blockley Quarry - 17th October

Did you know that from 1st November Blockley Quarry will be closed to the public?
A final trip has been organised by a member of Wiltshire Geology Group for Sunday 17th October. However, numbers are limited. If you want to go, send an email and make sure you put 'Blockley Quarry' in the subject line.
The quarry is near Moreton in the Marsh, and the cost for the day is £4. Anyone who doesn’t find a rucksack full of fossils should get new glasses!!
Visitors will need hard hats, hi viz vests and strong boots; it could be extremely muddy, so wellies might be a good idea ... and a tarpaulin to put over the car seats and in the boot.
You will definitely find fossils, and almost certainly they will be muddy - so newspaper and/or polybags might be useful. A spade is probably more use than a hammer and chisel.

New Guide - Vale of Wardour - October 9th

On Saturday October 9th at 2pm there is going to be a field excursion to celebrate the publication of the Wiltshire Geology Group's latest Earth Heritage Guide: Explore the Geology and Landscape of the Vale of Wardour.
Meet at 2.00 p.m. Tisbury Tithe Barn (Grid ref. ST 952 292), DPAS car park. Walk along footpaths for about 3/4 mile to Chicksgrove Quarry to see newly exposed top Portland/early Purbeck algal 'reefs', with huge bivalves & fossil wood.
We will then go to Fovant to look at the Upper Greensand both in buildings and in situ.
Arrive Fir Hill about 4.45pm; walk up to viewpoint at the top of the Greensand (park at entrance to wood) look at shell bed at top of building stone then walk through Fovant looking at Greensand & Chilmark stone buildings.
Further details from WWG website.

Conservation of the Geological Display area at Bradford on Avon

Sunday October 3rd at 10am
Meet at the tea shop by the lock on the Kennet & Avon Canal at Bradford on Avon.
Please bring gloves and hand tools, including brooms.
All volunteers welcome.

Sunday 21st September - Vale of Pewsey

Please do join us next Sunday at 10.30 a.m. at Knapp Hill (car park near SU121636, about 2km NNE of Alton Barnes and about 6km NW of Pewsey) to officially launch the new Wiltshire Geology Group's Vale of Pewsey landscape and geology guide. After the launch and an interpretation of the view at this site, we shall walk to a dry dewpond with sarsen stones. We shall then travel down to Alton Barnes Church to look at the stones at its base and then across the field to a spring. There may be time to visit Alton Priors Church too. After looking at an unusual chalk building and the sarsen building stones in Stanton St. Bernard en route, we shall end the event with lunch at the King's Arms in All Cannings. Please book a table for lunch as the pub is busy on Sundays.

Date for your diary - Sunday September 21st

Professor Michael Benton from the University of Bristol will be joining us at 10.30 a.m. at Knapp Hill (car park near SU121636, about 2km NNE of Alton Barnes and about 6km NW of Pewsey) on Sunday September 21st to officially launch the new Wiltshire Geology Group's Vale of Pewsey landscape and geology guide. After the launch and an interpretation of the view at this site, we shall walk to a dry dewpond with sarsen stones. We shall then travel down to Alton Barnes Church to look at the stones at its base and then across the field to a spring. There may be time to visit Alton Priors Church too. After looking at an unusual chalk building and the sarsen building stones in Stanton St. Bernard en route, we shall end the event with lunch at the King's Arms in All Cannings. Please book a table for lunch as the pub is busy on Sundays.

Step back into the Past - April 5th

Wiltshire Geology Group invites you to
Unveiling of Interpretation Board
by Professor Hugh Torrens
at Bradford on Avon Docks Clay Pit
Saturday 5th April, 11.30 a.m.
British Waterways car park at the end of
Baileys Barn Road, off Moulton Drive

The unveiling will be followed by a short walk looking at the Avon valley and local building stones, part of the route in the newly published trail guide exploring the landscape around Bradford on Avon.

News from the Wiltshire Geology Group

The Wiltshire Geology Group's Bradford-on-Avon project is finally coming together: the information board will be put up at the old Docks Clay Pit next week. A new exposure has been excavated, where people can hunt for the famous fossils of the Bradford Clay. This clay, inundated and buried the underwater limestone pavement on which a variety of sea creatures lived, including sea lilies.

There will be an opening event around Easter - We will need a site clean-up morning prior to that, so will need enthusiastic volunteers in early March - you will find dozens of fossils. The Easter event will include a guided walk - a launch event for the (by then) newly-published geology and landscape trail in and around the town, then along the river to Avoncliff.

The other news is that we are producing a Vale of Pewsey trail too. We hope to finish it in time for an event in Pewsey on March the 8th (AONB Geodiversity Forum) - more news of that when we have it!!