West Midlands go wild in the Lickey Hills
What sort of things do the Society’s Regional Groups get up to? In the latest in our occasional series ‘From the regions’, Verity Smith walks in the footsteps of Charles Lapworth...
On 10 September 2013, 20 members of the West Midlands Regional Group (and one dog) headed to the Lickey Hills Country Park for the group’s annual field trip, organised by your truly. (Not my usual job – I’m the Chartership Officer normally).
Led by Julie Schroder, Hereford and Worcester Earth Heritage Trust ‘Geo-Champion’, the group embarked on a walking tour of the Lickey Hills, taking in the five ‘geologies’ of the hills (including Barnt Green Volcanics www.earthheritagetrust.org/pub/learning-discovery/aggregates/lithology-profiles/barnt-green-volcanic-formation/ and Lickey Quartzite (Ordovician) www.earthheritagetrust.org/pub/learning-discovery/aggregates/lithology-profiles/lickey-quartzite/). We all gained a better appreciation of the geological history of the area, and were also able to enter two former quarries within the park to take a closer look at the structural deformation of the rock units.
Picture: Lickey Hills ‘Geo-champion’ Julie Schroder pointing out the fascinating features in the Lickey Quartzite at Barnt Green Road Quarry.
A very enjoyable evening with great company, the trip was closed-out with a spot of networking over a fish supper.
Following our trip, a ‘clearance day’ organised by Steve Hinton (Senior Ranger bat the Country Park) took place at Barnt Green Road Quarry on 6 October. Our work revealed an outcrop of rock at the base of the quarry face showing apparently dipping at right angles to the dip of the surrounding rocks, adding further questions about the site’s structural complexity.
Picture: Members of the Regional Group, Lickey Geo-champions and Echo the Dog in front of the impressive over-folding at Barnt Green Road Quarry.
- If you would like to get involved with the Geo-Champions or help out with the on-going conservation and potentially reveal the answers (or more questions) at Barnt Green Road Quarry, please write to [email protected].
- The aim of the Community Conservation Champions Project is to involve local communities and organisations in the understanding, conservation and utilisation of nineteen key geological sites across Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
- More information regarding the site and the work of the Hereford and Worcester Earth Heritage Trust can be found at www.ehtchampions.org.uk.