January 2009 Field Trips January 2009 Field TripsReturn to home page
Brockholes,
near HolmfirthKirklees Council Countryside Unit organises a programme of walks each year
and West Yorkshire Geology Trust has regularly contributed geological guided
walks to various sites in the district. This time we visited Brockholes on
a cold afternoon in January to look at the Rough Rock crags and quarries in
the village and then walk up the valley to see Coal Measure scenery. All of
us were astonished that 37 visitors turned up, including half a dozen local
children and their parents, and a spotty dog. The small people, with eyes close
to the ground and lots of energy, were able to scamper into stream beds and
up gullies and found the fossils in the mudstones in Round Wood. We were all
impressed by the scale of the sandstone beds and interested in the stories
of how they were formed, as well as gathering information about the quarrying
and mining history of Brockholes. Thanks to Alison Tymon, chairman of West
Yorkshire Geology Trust, for leading the walk.
Huddersfield
Geology Group trip to Otley Chevin in January 2009This was a blustery, cold day and we were right on the top of Otley Chevin
overlooking the Wharfe Valley. 7 of us battled our way to Yorkgate Quarry to
look at sandstones, a very small coal seam and its associated fireclay. After
that we kept to the lee of the hill and enjoyed looking at wonderful sedimentary
structures in the Addingham Edge Grit, in the great boulders covered with mosses
and lichens under the trees. We observed the landslips which cover much of
the mudstones and siltstones which make up the precipitous slopes in Great
Dib Wood and looked for signs of the sedimentary sequence in the tracks which
cross the Chevin. Fascinating geology and some very tough enthusiasts!