SAGT planned two "field" visits for the new national venture, Geoweek 2018. A geological walkabout
was arranged for 12th May, to look at the building stones in Sheffield City Centre and to try to elucidate the story of Britain's position on the globe in the past. On the day, only two visitors turned up - a 6th Form Geology student and her mum, although we also got some funny looks from passers-by. The student said that the tour gave very useful revision for 'A Level', and soon found herself deciding which blocks of stone had been inserted into the buildings the wrong way up, using evidence such as cross-bedding. Her mum, an ecologist, accepted that the geology controls what grows or lives on top of it, and also found the morning of value. The alabaster tombstone of the Earl of Shaftesbury, outside the back of the Cathedral, should be examined for more and more growing on top of it as it rapidly weathers!
The second excursion, to the southern end of the Burbage Valley on 13th, was attended by 6 people, in glorious sunshine. Clambering over the fallen blocks of gritstone on the way up to the two deep quarries on the eastern edge of the valley revealed a wide range of features, ranging from sedimentary structures and possible plant imprint fossils, to the results of man-made activity. As might be expected, there were the marks of quarrying, including drill holes for the "plug and feathers" technique of splitting blocks and some amazing lines of chisel marks where somebody optimistically had begun to mark out the division of an absolutely huge mass of gritstone. Many of the blocks were pock-marked by bullet holes or mortar blasts from WW2 when the valley was used for live-firing training. The group discussed the evidence of periglacial processes and searched (in vain) for marine fossils in the shales next to the river, so had to be content with "one we found here before" from the leader's rucksack!
So, two enjoyable trips, but we need to widen the publicity if we do this again next year.