Sheffield Building Stones

Chairman's Report October 2001

I would like to thank members of the Group, especially those who take such an active part in promoting and enjoying local geology.

Julie, as Secretary, carries out the administration of meetings and field trips most efficiently. The newsletter produced by Julie has greatly improved our ability to communicate within the group. Reports from field trips and other meetings can be spread throughout the group so that everybody has a chance to become involved in whatever activities interest them. Julie should be congratulated on reaching a grade A in Geology A-level with a mark in the top five of all candidates.

John has been with us at meetings less than he would like, after his move to Aberford, but he has been able to continue to look after the group's finances as Treasurer.

I am also grateful to Malcolm who has audited the accounts from Cambridge and sends best wishes to the group.

Brian is still enthusing his U3A class about geology and Jenny is continuing to record our field trips. Please let her have spare photos you don't need and offer to write up a field trip that you have enjoyed. We would all like to thank Jenny's mother for continuing to supply cakes at our meetings. This is a wonderful tradition that helps to give the Huddersfield Geology Group its special identity.

I commented last year that we ought to consider how we could improve publicity, in terms of selling the two booklets and increasing awareness in the Huddersfield district of the activities that we do. Andrew and Ailsa offered to take charge of publicity, which has improved very much this year. Jane has made great progress on the website, which will soon be online.

The 2000/2001 programme included 15 meetings or field trips, of which 3 had outside speakers or field day leaders. This was somewhat scaled down from the previous year. Attendance at meetings has been about 10-25 depending on the topic, while most field trips had 4-7 participants. There are more than 40 people on the mailing list, so it is satisfactory to have steady interest in all our activities, although there should be some concern that the numbers for field trips are so low compared with past years.

We are grateful to visiting speakers this year, particularly Albert Wilson who gave an interesting talk on the explosion at Abbeystead due to methane build-up below ground.
Ian Chisholm took us around the Kirkburton area to check on the whereabouts of some sandstones which he has recently mapped. We welcomed Hull Geological Society to Huddersfield in July to repeat the walk, with Ian's encouragement.

Most of our talks were home-grown this year, although Jenny contrived to talk about the Geology of the Colorado Plateau whilst on holiday in Spain, by using a video she made, supported by OHP transparencies. This was very successful so we hope other speakers might be able to use modern technology to their advantage.

We have also had small meetings to plan and discuss our activities. Everyone is welcome to attend these informal discussions and notice is given in the Newsletter.

Calderdale meetings have continued, to plan the progress on the Landscapes and Rocks of Calderdale booklet, which has been written by Gordon during the winter. We are very sad that Gordon is suffering from back pain, which has prevented him from getting out this summer and we all send him our best wishes and moral support.

We enjoyed field trips during the winter, although the January visit to Elland Edge was cancelled because of snow. Knaresborough Permian limestones were wonderful in the autumn sunshine although the access road to Mother Shipton's cave had been washed away in floods. The foot and mouth outbreak in March this year closed all our local footpaths and caused the cancellation of the day trip to the North York Moors. We were still able to go to Roundhay Park in Leeds and to Kirkburton, with somewhat modified routes along roads instead of field paths. In May a few of us had a drenching in Oldham looking at building stones, which was very difficult under umbrellas which kept inverting themselves.

The Johnsons Wellfield information board at Crosland Hill was completed during the summer. Shaun Berry and Ann Howes of Johnsons Wellfield Quarries arranged a launch in August, which was covered by the Huddersfield Examiner, so we could celebrate the completion of this project.

Sales of the two Huddersfield booklets are continuing steadily. We have plenty of stock left and would like to continue active selling. The best way to do this seems to be through talks to outside bodies who are interested in local landscapes, so if anyone has an opportunity to give a talk to a group then please make the most of it.

Making Tracks is a SCOPSA initiative which we have been involved in for the last three years. The South Pennine local authorities in Yorkshire and Lancashire organise a programme of walks and activities so that the general public can enjoy the countryside. Sadly most of the walks we had planned had to be cancelled because of the foot and mouth outbreak, although Andrew was able to take four of us around his walk above Jackson Bridge to look at landscape views and rocks in several quarries.

The connection with West Yorkshire RIGS (Regionally Important Geological Sites) continues, so some of the conservation work that we try to do in this district stems from RIGS initiatives. There is plenty of scope for more education and geoconservation work, if only we had the time. Please come to a RIGS meeting if you have time to offer.
In the summer Jenny and I surveyed the geology of some sites in Kirklees which may be designated as important wildlife habitats for the Kirklees Wildlife Advisory Group and in doing so found one wood with excellent rock exposures that we didn't know about.
Jenny continues to maintain a high profile in the deliberations about the future of Castle Hill because we are keen that geology should be represented in any information material that is produced.

My thanks to all of you who continue to be interested and enthusiastic about local rocks and landscapes. It is wonderful to see many people participating in other groups and activities and representing the Huddersfield Geology Group more widely. This enthusiasm is the key to our enjoyment and should be valued greatly. I am also pleased that we continue to try to achieve high quality in whatever we do so that we will be able to take pride in our activities. Alison

Forthcoming Events

Sunday 14th October
The Triassic of the Wirral Peninsula with Jim Spencer.

This should be very interesting with a promise of dinosaur footprints!
Meet in the car park of Eastham Country Park at 10.30am (OS Sheet 108 GR 363819).
Bring a packed lunch.
The trip should finish around 4.00pm.

Monday 19th November at Greenhead College in Room F9 at 7.15pm

"Black Canyons and Green Tables" an illustrated talk on the geology of the Western USA by John Rumsby of the Tolson Museum.

Saturday 6th to Saturday 13th April 2002 - Easter Field Trip

Alison plans to book lodges at Forres, between Nairn and Elgin, about 20 miles from Inverness. This is not as close to Aberdeen as expected but will still give us access to excellent geological sites on the Banff coast and to the west of Inverness. We should be able to visit Hugh Miller's cottage at Cromarty and quarries in Devonian sandstones as well as igneous and metamorphic rocks along the coast.

The lodges have 2/3 bedrooms at various prices and are sited in lovely woodland with a lake, about 20 mins from the sea. All the lodges have good facilities and would be suitable for families as there are play areas and laundry facilities. There are some brochures available for you to look at.

If the group is large enough we will take advantage of cheaper group rates by train to Inverness and then hire a minibus from Sharp's Reliable Wrecks in Inverness.

Please let Alison know as soon as possible if you would like to come, as some of the lodges have already been booked for this week. Thanks to those of you who have booked a place already.

Please give a deposit of £20 per person to Alison as soon as possible. Cheques should be made out to Huddersfield Geology Group and cash should be submitted in a named envelope. Thanks.