This area is geologically most complex, particularly the regional metamorphic mineralogy. We will use guide-books and maps to try to unravel the geology, largely looking at road cuttings and coastal exposures. The Aberdeen Area geological guidebook will be useful for sites to the east of Forres. There are some sites which we will have to discover for ourselves, especially to the south of Forres in the Grampians.

Useful maps are Landranger 27, 28, 29

Guidebooks
Geology of the Aberdeen Area, by N.H. Trewin, B.C. Kneller, C. Gillen published by the Geological Society of Aberdeen has many useful itineraries.

How we will get there
There is a good train service to Inverness which we can reach comfortably in a day. We will hire a minibus or car there to use for the rest of the holiday. Going by train will limit the amount of luggage we can take with us but the alternative is four days driving from Huddersfield which would put too much pressure on the drivers. We will be able to shop for food in Inverness before driving to Forres. Drivers should bring their driving licences.

Where we will stay
I have booked self-catering log cabins at Rafford, near Forres. The full address is Tulloch Lodges, Rafford, Forres, Moray. !V36 2RU. They are set in woodland with a lake nearby. The site is in square NJ0656. The lodges will be reasonably comfortable and warm, but will probably not be luxurious. There is information, laundry facilities and a telephone on the site but no other facilities. There are shops in Forres which is 4 miles away. Bed linen is provided but towels are not. Electricity is provided by £1 coin meter.

What it will cost
About £160 per person which will cover accommodation and transport throughout the trip. You will need to make your own arrangements for insurance and food.

Proposed Schedule
This is tide-dependent to some extent.

• Elgin Museum has collections of natural history, geology and archaeology including local reptiles and fish from the Devonian and Permo-Triassic sandstones.
• Nairn Museum has a good collection of minerals and fossils from Morayshire and from other parts of the North Atlantic province, from Greenland and Scandinavia.
• Dalradian metasediments from Portknockie to Sandend. They include many sedimentary and tectonic structures.
• Devonian and Permo-Triassic sediments from Burghead to Lossiemouth. Faulted and unconformable junctions between the two and some mineralisation.
• Clashach Quarry which has dinosaur trackways on red Permo-Triassic Hopeman sandstones.
• Quarry Wood, near Elgin. Both Devonian and Permian rocks are found here in adjacent quarries, so comparison of the two will be interesting.
• Dalradian of the Portsoy District The Portsoy group consists of limestones, metapelites, calc schists and quartzites which have been intruded by a basic to ultrabasic sheet and then metamorphosed and folded intensely.
• Findhorn Gorge at Randolph's Leap near Logie (NJ0049) has Moine gneisses and migmatites.

Places are limited and transport arrangements need to be finalised, so please book as soon as possible.