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geology |
Goelogy Excursion 2003 |
| The Faringdon Geological Excursion is now set for Saturday 7th
September. We will meet at 9.30 a.m. at the lay-by on the north side of the Highworth Rd. just beyond the Faringdon town boundary. From there we can overlook the Thames Valley and see how scenery and geology are related. We will then move on to the Great Barn in Coxwell to inspect the rocks used in its construction. We may also find some 'washed out' fossils in the adjacent field. From Coxwell we will go on to the north pit at Rogers Cement where the Faringdon Sponge Gravels are well exposed and where, with luck, typical fossils can be found in the gravel dumps. It will then be back to the A420 and on towards Longcot via Kings Lane where we will stop to look at the scenery and relate it to the local geology. From Longcot we will move on to Baulking and visit the Fullers Earth deposit. After a brief explanation of the geology the manager, Bob Porter, has kindly agreed to talk about the deposit, the processing of the raw Fullers Earth and its various industrial uses, and the work now in progress to restore the now worked out deposit. I hope that you will get some idea of the importance of our local mineral extraction industry and the concern shown by the various groups working these deposits for the environment. As before I suggest that you bring some light refreshments with you - we will stop at a convenient place for a coffee break and for a chat and question time. We will hope for the best as far as the weather is concerned. Please wear stout shoes or boots and if convenient have a pair of wellingtons in the boot of your car. They may come in handy for the visit to Baulking. We will travel around by car, if possible please arrange to share cars so that we dont have too many parking problems at our various stops. For information on local geology you can download copies of my article together with maps, illustrations of fossils and a geological section, from this website. I will also bring some copies with me for which I may have to make a small charge to cover the Xerox costs. I look forward to meeting you and hope we will have an interesting time. If you have any inquires please contact me by e-mail or on 01367 240601. It would also be very helpful if you could let me know whether or not you will be attending, either by e-mail or phone as above, or at my home address- 46 Lechlade Rd., Faringdon SN7 8AQ. I hope it will be possible to meet you all so please dont hesitate to introduce yourselves as the occasion arises. Norman Snelling. |
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