Events and News

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Field Day with the Black Bear Geology
Group, Dorset. 12th July, 2008
This is an informal field-day to be held in Dorset on 12th July
2008. The aim of the day will be to look at Pleistocene terraces
and terrace deposits of the Rivers Frome and Piddle in the Dorchester
area which have been mapped by members of the Black Bear Geology
Group over the last few years.
For further details including meeting
place and time contact Tony Brown by e-mail on Tony.Brown@soton.ac.uk
All Ussher Society members are welcome.

One day conference
on "South-west geology: past, present and future"
Crediton, Saturday, 28th June 2008
As part of the celebrations to mark the 150th
anniversary of the Geologists’ Association, the Devonshire
Association Geology Section, in association with the Ussher Society
and the Geologists’ Association
are holding a one day conference on "South-west geology: past,
present and future". The conference will be held at the Boniface
Centre, Crediton, Devon on the 28th June, 2008 between 10:00 and
16:30.
An interesting and varied programme has been
compiled with speakers talking on the following:
Tickets are £25 and include coffee,
buffet lunch and tea. Ample parking is available as well as
regular bus and train services to Exeter.
Further details and a booking form are available here
Old News

Going Underground – Saturday
31st May 2008
Robin Shail and Nick Leboutillier will be leading
a mid-year Ussher Society field excursion to two mines in west
Cornwall. The first venue will be the CSM Test Mine (Carnmenellis
Granite), a few km south of Camborne, which was used for much
of the 20th Century as a research and development facility by
the Holman Company. Virtual tours are available in hi-res
(broadband only) or low-res
(dial-up). The second venue will be Rosevale Mine (Land’s
End Granite), near to Zennor (see www.rosevalemine.co.uk).
The day will provide an insight into magmatism, mineralization,
regional tectonics, mining methods and a little industrial archaeology.
The start time at the CSM Test Mine will be
10:00 and we will finish in the late afternoon. Lunch will be
taken en route between the two venues (possibly in Zennor). Lifts
can be arranged from/to Camborne railway station and, possibly,
further afield.
Spaces are limited to 16 people and booking
is essential. Participants must be at least 16 years old and
have a reasonable degree of mobility – Rosevale Mine includes
a 1 km walk-in from Zennor and a total of 30 m of fixed ladders
to ascend. Hardhats and lamps will be supplied. To book a place,
please telephone Robin Shail on 01326 371827 (office), or email R.K.Shail@ex.ac.uk ensuring
that you leave a contact address and telephone number. Full joining
instructions will be sent in late May.

Channel Islands, Field Visit, May 2008
Bookings for this trip are now closed. Enquiries
to John
Renouf.
Abstracts for Geoscience in south-west
England now available
Abstracts are now available for Geoscience in
south-west England Vol. 11 parts 1, 2 (2004 to 2006) - please see
the journal pages. Back issues will hopefully be added in the near
future - please check back periodically for updates.

Ussher Society Conference, St
Ives, January 2008
The Ussher Society's 46th Annual Conference
was held between the 2nd and 5th January, 2008 at the Tregenna
Castle Hotel, St. Ives, Cornwall. The conference was very well
attended.
In addition, electronic copies of the back issues
of the Proceedings of the Ussher Society (now Geoscience in south
west England) was distributed to
all paid-up
members. This fantastic resource reflects the hard work of Chris
Cornford and all involved at IGI limited.
For full details of the
2008 conference (and previous events), please see the conference
pages

History of Geology Group Conference
The history of on-shore hydrocarbon use
in the UK or "From oil shales and seeps
to 'shaleopolis' and 100 roughnecks!"
The History of Geology Group held a three
day meeting in Weymouth from the 20th to the 22nd April 2007. The
meeting comprised two days of field excursions and
a one-day seminar. Further details and a
full programme are
available here
The History of Geology Group (HOGG)
was inaugurated in October
1994 to encourage the interest in the history of geology
and the
lives and work of those scientists and philosophers who influenced
both the study and the practice
of geology.
HOGG is open to anyone with an interest in the history
of
geology, and the events and personalities that have shaped
the
way in which
it is studied and practiced today.

Jurassic Coast hosted the 2007
Ussher Society 45th Annual Conference
The Jurassic
Coast team hosted the 45th annual conference
at Weymouth
in January 2007. Papers on a variety of aspects of geoscience
in south-west England were presented during the four day meeting
(two days field excursions and two days of presentations). The
second afternoon of presentations was held jointly with the southwest
regional group of
the Geological
Society
of
London
focused on the theme of "Geotourism". This
year's excellent Conference Dinner was free due to the kind sponsorship
of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Team.
Field excursions
were to (1) Osmington
MIlls to examine the structure and stratigraphy of the area along
the
Abbotsbury-Ridgeway Fault
System
and to examine
the fine coastal sections in the Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian rocks
(led by Prof. John Cope) and (2) to the Charmouth Heritage Centre
and to Lyme Regis to examine the engineering works (led by Richard
Edmonds, Chris Pamplin and others).
For full details of the
2007 conference (and previous events), please see the conference
pages.

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