Visits Programme
Field Visits Secretary phone contact -
David Turner on 01245-267450
Responding to the latest Government advice, we have reluctantly cancelled all indoor and outdoor meetings of Essex Rock & Mineral Society until further notice.
Thus the Maylandsea visit for Sunday 29th March is off.
In the meantime we shall endeavour to send you stimulating geological ideas as to how to pass the time and would be pleased to share any ideas you may have. You could do worse than reading Timefulness a few times! And maybe you will have the time to label and catalogue your collection - something you have been meaning to do for years and never had the time - until now!
Please keep in touch.
Visit our Facebook page!
You can contact Ian Mercer at sherb1ian@yahoo.co uk
Thus the Maylandsea visit for Sunday 29th March is off.
In the meantime we shall endeavour to send you stimulating geological ideas as to how to pass the time and would be pleased to share any ideas you may have. You could do worse than reading Timefulness a few times! And maybe you will have the time to label and catalogue your collection - something you have been meaning to do for years and never had the time - until now!
Please keep in touch.
Visit our Facebook page!
You can contact Ian Mercer at sherb1ian@yahoo.co uk
Please remember - booking is essential
- Contact David Turner 01245 267450 - Field Visits Secretary.
If necessary leave a message, clearly giving your name, contact number and group name.
Participants are reminded that they -
2020 ERMS visits
(other Essex events are listed at the bottom of this page)
- Contact David Turner 01245 267450 - Field Visits Secretary.
If necessary leave a message, clearly giving your name, contact number and group name.
Participants are reminded that they -
- must book a place with the Field Visits Secretary, David Turner.
- must read and abide by the safety information issued by the group to which they belong
- must sign the leader’s register sheet giving emergency contact information.
2020 ERMS visits
(other Essex events are listed at the bottom of this page)
March 29 Maylandsea, Essex. Foreshore exposures of London Clay at this site yield a
(Sunday) number of fossils including lobsters, sharks teeth and stem fragments of crinoids.
Meet at the end of North Drive CM3 6AG (grid ref. TL 906027) at 10.00 am (Low tide 10:00am). [Leader: Jeff Saward].
April 19 The Naze, Walton, Essex. (Visit for the Essex Field Club to which ERMS members
(Sunday) are welcome to attend). Fine exposures of Red Crag and London Clay where fossils may be found.
Meet at Essex Wildlife Trust’s Naze Visitor Centre near the cliff top tower, Old Hall Lane, CO14 8LE (grid ref. TM 264234) at 11.00 am (High tide: 10:46am, Low tide 4:50pm). Car parking charges apply. A garden sieve and a trowel will be useful. Children are particularly welcome. [Leaders: Ian & Ros Mercer].
April 25 Highwood Quarry, Easton Park Estate, Great Dunmow, Essex
(Saturday) Another visit to this fairly new sand and gravel quarry. Chalky till (boulder clay), deposited by an ice sheet, contains derived fossils and erratics. The underlying Kesgrave Thames river gravels contain boulders from as far as North Wales and S.W. England, and Hertfordshire Puddingstone. In the floor of the quarry is London Clay which contains occasional fossils. Meet 9:00am at the quarry car park (SRC aggregates) which is reached via the access road on the B1256 at the A120 turn off between Takeley and Dunmow (TL 601218) CM6 1SL (nearest post code). Helmet, boots and high visibility jacket essential. (Working quarry - no under 18s permitted). [Leader: Dr. Peter Allen].
May 17 The Naze, Walton, Essex. Fine exposures of Red Crag and London Clay where
(Sunday) fossils may be found. Meet at Essex Wildlife Trust’s Naze Visitor Centre near the cliff top tower, Old Hall Lane, CO14 8LE (grid ref. TM 264234) at 11.00 am (High tide: 9:00am, Low tide 3:00pm). Car parking charges apply. A garden sieve and a trowel will be useful. Children are particularly welcome. [Leader: Gerald Lucy].
June 6 Hill Farm, Gestingthorpe, Essex. A repeat visit to this farm where sink holes
(Saturday) keep appearing. There is also a small private geological and archaeological museum
which has interesting finds and fossils – glacial erratics and Roman artefacts collected
by the farmer, Ashley Cooper. The farm is also the site of a Roman villa. Gestingthorpe village is known for a particularly high concentration of sarsen stones. Bring a packed lunch. Meet at Hill Farm (TL 821391) at 10:30 am. [Leaders: Ian & Ros Mercer].
June 27 Dimmocks Cote Quarry, Upware, Cambridgeshire. A visit to this working quarry
(Saturday) which has highly fossiliferous exposures of Oxfordian (Jurassic) ‘coral reef’ limestone
(to be with ammonites and echinoids. Meeting time to be agreed. Meet at at Dimmocks Cote
confirmed) Quarry car park (TL 542723), Fodderfen Drove, Ely, Cambs CB7 5XL (off A1123). Helmet, boots and high visibility jacket essential. (Working quarry - no under 18s permitted). [Leader: Dr. Simon Kelly]. Following the visit, it is proposed that members meet for lunch in the ‘5 miles from anywhere’ pub nearby. After lunch we hope to visit the famous Commissioners Pit (a geological SSSI) nearby.
July 18 Bulls Lodge Quarry, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex. Our annual visit to this working
(Saturday) quarry. Thick till (boulder clay), deposited by an ice sheet, contains derived fossils and erratics. The underlying Kesgrave Thames gravels contain boulders from North Wales and S.W. England, and Hertfordshire Puddingstone. Meet 9:30 am (to be confirmed) in the quarry access road (Hansons Aggregates) off Generals Lane (TL 7423 1009) (to be confirmed). Helmet, boots and high visibility jacket essential. (Working quarry - no under 18s permitted). [Leader: Dr. Peter Allen].
August 15 Colemans Farm Quarry, Little Braxted, near Witham, Essex. Our first visit to this
(Saturday) working quarry. Kesgrave Thames river gravels contain boulders and pebbles from as
far as North Wales and S.W. England, and Hertfordshire Puddingstone. Meet 9:30 am
at the quarry entrance at CM8 3EX (TL 834153) (map to be provided). Helmet, boots and high visibility jacket essential. (Working quarry - no under 18s permitted) (Maximum 25 persons so booking essential). [Leader: Dr. Peter Allen / Ian & Ros Mercer].
Sept. 13 Wrabness, Essex. A geological walk to see the cliff of London Clay on the River
(Sunday) Stour with its 32 bands of volcanic ash and occasional fossils. The famous brickearth will also be examined which has yielded Ice Age mammoth bones. Previous finds by ERMS members include the lower jaw of a mammoth and a Palaeolithic hand-axe. Meet and park at Wrabness Church
(TM 174318) at 10:30am. Packed lunch optional. [Leader: Bill George].
October 25 Isle of Sheppey, Kent. London Clay fossils together with barite, pyrite and
(Sunday) selenite crystals can be found on the foreshore at Warden Point. Meet in the car park at Warden (NW of Leysdown-on-Sea) (grid ref. TR 023718) at 10:30 a.m. Low tide is at 1:10pm. This locality may be extremely muddy so please bring appropriate clothing and footwear. [Leader: Gerald Lucy].
Important advice and safety notes for field visits.
It is essential that members sign the relevant attendance sheet, available at monthly meetings, if you wish to come on any field visit, or contact the Field Visits Secretary to reserve a place (David Turner on 01245-267450 - please leave a message).
If you subsequently decide not to come, please inform the Field Visits Secretary so the party will not be kept waiting. If you are delayed and expect to arrive late, please phone 07884 372885 or 07957-863601 so that a message may be passed on to the leader and participants will not be kept waiting unnecessarily.
All geological sites are potentially dangerous. Members and guests ('participants') are reminded that they attend field visits at their own risk, and that they have a duty of care for their own safety and that of others. Neither the Society nor any of its members shall accept any liability whatsoever for any accident or injury to any persons or damage to or loss of property incurred by any persons arising from its activities except in so far as the Society can be held to have been negligent. Except in the case of working quarries (see below), persons under 18 years of age are welcome to attend certain field visits provided that they are accompanied by an adult: please check beforehand.
Participants are responsible for their own personal accident insurance cover and also insurance for their own personal effects used in connection with the Society's activities.
Participants are recommended to bring their own first aid kit on field visits.
Participants must wear suitable field-work clothing. This includes waterproofs and appropriate footwear and safety goggles. A hard hat is required for visits in the proximity of cliff and scarp sections. Access to working quarries will be permitted only if strong boots, a hard hat and a fluorescent jacket or tabard are worn. Goggles or other eye protection may be required. Except where otherwise stated we regret that persons under the age of 18 years are not permitted in working quarries.
All participants shall follow any reasonable instructions and heed any warnings given by the leader. The leader must be informed if any participant needs to leave the group before the end of the visit. The leader's attention must be drawn to any participant who is in distress or who is parted from the group.
Participants are expected to make their own travel arrangements and are responsible for locating each field visit meeting point, following location instructions, verbal or otherwise, from the leader.
Recommended field equipment. It is useful to have a notebook, pencil & paper, tissues or newspaper, collecting bags & pots, and a marker pen. Tools such as a trowel and sieve may be useful at certain locations: please enquire for advice. We recommend that participants also bring sun protection, a packed lunch plus sufficient drink.
New members are urged to record information about their finds, especially where they were found (identification can always be done later).
OTHER EVENTS
A selection of visits, talks, courses and other events arranged by other organisations.
Saturday 7th March 2020
The Chalk Walk (Essex Field Club field course). Leader: Dr. Peter Allen. The walk will look at the Chalk but also what happened after it was deposited, uplifted by continental drift, followed by extreme conditions of desert and of glacial permafrost; when the banks of the Thames were occupied by Neanderthal humans. 10am to 12am. Meet at car park, Chafford Gorges Essex Wildlife Centre, Drake Road, Grays RM16 6RW. Cost to be advised (free to Essex Field Club members). Booking essential. Further details from: www.essexfieldclub.org.uk/portal/p/Courses
Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th April 2020
Rock and Gem Show, Chelmsford City Racecourse, Great Leighs, Essex CM3 1QP. 10:00am – 5.00pm Saturday & 10am – 4pm Sunday. Free parking, refreshments. Admission charge. Rock & Gem Shows are held at numerous venues around the country each year. They concentrate on polished stones and jewelry but there are usually several stalls of minerals and fossils. For further details: www.rockngem.co.uk
Friday 17th April 2020
Fantastic Fossils (Easter holiday activity at Colchester Natural History Museum). Find out about the fossils of the Colchester area and see fossils on display. Bring along your finds for identification by experts from GeoSuffolk. Drop in between 10 – 12 and 2 – 4. Free admission. Details from: https://colchester.cimuseums.org.uk/events/fantasticfossils/ Suitable for all ages.
Thursday 28th May 2020
Fossils and Flints (Half term activity at Saffron Walden Museum). An opportunity to learn about the geological history of North-West Essex and see fossils on display. Bring along your finds for identification by experts. 10.30-12.30noon or between 1.30-3.30pm. Activities mainly for children. Further details from: www.saffronwaldenmuseum.org.
Sunday 7th June 2020
Sutton Knoll Pliocene Forest, Suffolk. An Open Day organised by the geoconservation group GeoSuffolk. The 'Pliocene Forest' has trees similar to ones which would have grown in Suffolk four million years ago. Over 100 trees are here representing their Pliocene ancestral genera, based on fossil pollen found in the Coralline Crag. Sutton Knoll was an island of Coralline Crag surrounded by the Red Crag Sea. Exposures of shelly sand can be seen in the nearby Rockhall Wood SSSI. http://geosuffolk.co.uk/index.php/pliocene-forest
Sunday 9th August 2020
Essex Natural History Show. Organized by the Essex Field Club. There are exhibits and activities on all aspects of natural history including geology and fossils. The Green Centre, Wat Tyler Country Park, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, near Basildon SS16 4UH. 11am to 5pm. Free admission (small charge for some activities and refreshments). See www.essexfieldclub.org.uk for details.
Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th October 2020.
Rock and Gem Show, Chelmsford City Racecourse, Great Leighs, Essex CM3 1QP. 10:00am – 5.00pm Saturday & 10am – 4pm Sunday. Free parking, refreshments. Admission charge. Rock & Gem Shows are held at numerous venues around the country each year. They concentrate on polished stones and jewelry but there are usually several stalls of minerals and fossils. For further details: www.rockngem.co.uk
(Sunday) number of fossils including lobsters, sharks teeth and stem fragments of crinoids.
Meet at the end of North Drive CM3 6AG (grid ref. TL 906027) at 10.00 am (Low tide 10:00am). [Leader: Jeff Saward].
April 19 The Naze, Walton, Essex. (Visit for the Essex Field Club to which ERMS members
(Sunday) are welcome to attend). Fine exposures of Red Crag and London Clay where fossils may be found.
Meet at Essex Wildlife Trust’s Naze Visitor Centre near the cliff top tower, Old Hall Lane, CO14 8LE (grid ref. TM 264234) at 11.00 am (High tide: 10:46am, Low tide 4:50pm). Car parking charges apply. A garden sieve and a trowel will be useful. Children are particularly welcome. [Leaders: Ian & Ros Mercer].
April 25 Highwood Quarry, Easton Park Estate, Great Dunmow, Essex
(Saturday) Another visit to this fairly new sand and gravel quarry. Chalky till (boulder clay), deposited by an ice sheet, contains derived fossils and erratics. The underlying Kesgrave Thames river gravels contain boulders from as far as North Wales and S.W. England, and Hertfordshire Puddingstone. In the floor of the quarry is London Clay which contains occasional fossils. Meet 9:00am at the quarry car park (SRC aggregates) which is reached via the access road on the B1256 at the A120 turn off between Takeley and Dunmow (TL 601218) CM6 1SL (nearest post code). Helmet, boots and high visibility jacket essential. (Working quarry - no under 18s permitted). [Leader: Dr. Peter Allen].
May 17 The Naze, Walton, Essex. Fine exposures of Red Crag and London Clay where
(Sunday) fossils may be found. Meet at Essex Wildlife Trust’s Naze Visitor Centre near the cliff top tower, Old Hall Lane, CO14 8LE (grid ref. TM 264234) at 11.00 am (High tide: 9:00am, Low tide 3:00pm). Car parking charges apply. A garden sieve and a trowel will be useful. Children are particularly welcome. [Leader: Gerald Lucy].
June 6 Hill Farm, Gestingthorpe, Essex. A repeat visit to this farm where sink holes
(Saturday) keep appearing. There is also a small private geological and archaeological museum
which has interesting finds and fossils – glacial erratics and Roman artefacts collected
by the farmer, Ashley Cooper. The farm is also the site of a Roman villa. Gestingthorpe village is known for a particularly high concentration of sarsen stones. Bring a packed lunch. Meet at Hill Farm (TL 821391) at 10:30 am. [Leaders: Ian & Ros Mercer].
June 27 Dimmocks Cote Quarry, Upware, Cambridgeshire. A visit to this working quarry
(Saturday) which has highly fossiliferous exposures of Oxfordian (Jurassic) ‘coral reef’ limestone
(to be with ammonites and echinoids. Meeting time to be agreed. Meet at at Dimmocks Cote
confirmed) Quarry car park (TL 542723), Fodderfen Drove, Ely, Cambs CB7 5XL (off A1123). Helmet, boots and high visibility jacket essential. (Working quarry - no under 18s permitted). [Leader: Dr. Simon Kelly]. Following the visit, it is proposed that members meet for lunch in the ‘5 miles from anywhere’ pub nearby. After lunch we hope to visit the famous Commissioners Pit (a geological SSSI) nearby.
July 18 Bulls Lodge Quarry, Boreham, Chelmsford, Essex. Our annual visit to this working
(Saturday) quarry. Thick till (boulder clay), deposited by an ice sheet, contains derived fossils and erratics. The underlying Kesgrave Thames gravels contain boulders from North Wales and S.W. England, and Hertfordshire Puddingstone. Meet 9:30 am (to be confirmed) in the quarry access road (Hansons Aggregates) off Generals Lane (TL 7423 1009) (to be confirmed). Helmet, boots and high visibility jacket essential. (Working quarry - no under 18s permitted). [Leader: Dr. Peter Allen].
August 15 Colemans Farm Quarry, Little Braxted, near Witham, Essex. Our first visit to this
(Saturday) working quarry. Kesgrave Thames river gravels contain boulders and pebbles from as
far as North Wales and S.W. England, and Hertfordshire Puddingstone. Meet 9:30 am
at the quarry entrance at CM8 3EX (TL 834153) (map to be provided). Helmet, boots and high visibility jacket essential. (Working quarry - no under 18s permitted) (Maximum 25 persons so booking essential). [Leader: Dr. Peter Allen / Ian & Ros Mercer].
Sept. 13 Wrabness, Essex. A geological walk to see the cliff of London Clay on the River
(Sunday) Stour with its 32 bands of volcanic ash and occasional fossils. The famous brickearth will also be examined which has yielded Ice Age mammoth bones. Previous finds by ERMS members include the lower jaw of a mammoth and a Palaeolithic hand-axe. Meet and park at Wrabness Church
(TM 174318) at 10:30am. Packed lunch optional. [Leader: Bill George].
October 25 Isle of Sheppey, Kent. London Clay fossils together with barite, pyrite and
(Sunday) selenite crystals can be found on the foreshore at Warden Point. Meet in the car park at Warden (NW of Leysdown-on-Sea) (grid ref. TR 023718) at 10:30 a.m. Low tide is at 1:10pm. This locality may be extremely muddy so please bring appropriate clothing and footwear. [Leader: Gerald Lucy].
Important advice and safety notes for field visits.
It is essential that members sign the relevant attendance sheet, available at monthly meetings, if you wish to come on any field visit, or contact the Field Visits Secretary to reserve a place (David Turner on 01245-267450 - please leave a message).
If you subsequently decide not to come, please inform the Field Visits Secretary so the party will not be kept waiting. If you are delayed and expect to arrive late, please phone 07884 372885 or 07957-863601 so that a message may be passed on to the leader and participants will not be kept waiting unnecessarily.
All geological sites are potentially dangerous. Members and guests ('participants') are reminded that they attend field visits at their own risk, and that they have a duty of care for their own safety and that of others. Neither the Society nor any of its members shall accept any liability whatsoever for any accident or injury to any persons or damage to or loss of property incurred by any persons arising from its activities except in so far as the Society can be held to have been negligent. Except in the case of working quarries (see below), persons under 18 years of age are welcome to attend certain field visits provided that they are accompanied by an adult: please check beforehand.
Participants are responsible for their own personal accident insurance cover and also insurance for their own personal effects used in connection with the Society's activities.
Participants are recommended to bring their own first aid kit on field visits.
Participants must wear suitable field-work clothing. This includes waterproofs and appropriate footwear and safety goggles. A hard hat is required for visits in the proximity of cliff and scarp sections. Access to working quarries will be permitted only if strong boots, a hard hat and a fluorescent jacket or tabard are worn. Goggles or other eye protection may be required. Except where otherwise stated we regret that persons under the age of 18 years are not permitted in working quarries.
All participants shall follow any reasonable instructions and heed any warnings given by the leader. The leader must be informed if any participant needs to leave the group before the end of the visit. The leader's attention must be drawn to any participant who is in distress or who is parted from the group.
Participants are expected to make their own travel arrangements and are responsible for locating each field visit meeting point, following location instructions, verbal or otherwise, from the leader.
Recommended field equipment. It is useful to have a notebook, pencil & paper, tissues or newspaper, collecting bags & pots, and a marker pen. Tools such as a trowel and sieve may be useful at certain locations: please enquire for advice. We recommend that participants also bring sun protection, a packed lunch plus sufficient drink.
New members are urged to record information about their finds, especially where they were found (identification can always be done later).
OTHER EVENTS
A selection of visits, talks, courses and other events arranged by other organisations.
Saturday 7th March 2020
The Chalk Walk (Essex Field Club field course). Leader: Dr. Peter Allen. The walk will look at the Chalk but also what happened after it was deposited, uplifted by continental drift, followed by extreme conditions of desert and of glacial permafrost; when the banks of the Thames were occupied by Neanderthal humans. 10am to 12am. Meet at car park, Chafford Gorges Essex Wildlife Centre, Drake Road, Grays RM16 6RW. Cost to be advised (free to Essex Field Club members). Booking essential. Further details from: www.essexfieldclub.org.uk/portal/p/Courses
Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th April 2020
Rock and Gem Show, Chelmsford City Racecourse, Great Leighs, Essex CM3 1QP. 10:00am – 5.00pm Saturday & 10am – 4pm Sunday. Free parking, refreshments. Admission charge. Rock & Gem Shows are held at numerous venues around the country each year. They concentrate on polished stones and jewelry but there are usually several stalls of minerals and fossils. For further details: www.rockngem.co.uk
Friday 17th April 2020
Fantastic Fossils (Easter holiday activity at Colchester Natural History Museum). Find out about the fossils of the Colchester area and see fossils on display. Bring along your finds for identification by experts from GeoSuffolk. Drop in between 10 – 12 and 2 – 4. Free admission. Details from: https://colchester.cimuseums.org.uk/events/fantasticfossils/ Suitable for all ages.
Thursday 28th May 2020
Fossils and Flints (Half term activity at Saffron Walden Museum). An opportunity to learn about the geological history of North-West Essex and see fossils on display. Bring along your finds for identification by experts. 10.30-12.30noon or between 1.30-3.30pm. Activities mainly for children. Further details from: www.saffronwaldenmuseum.org.
Sunday 7th June 2020
Sutton Knoll Pliocene Forest, Suffolk. An Open Day organised by the geoconservation group GeoSuffolk. The 'Pliocene Forest' has trees similar to ones which would have grown in Suffolk four million years ago. Over 100 trees are here representing their Pliocene ancestral genera, based on fossil pollen found in the Coralline Crag. Sutton Knoll was an island of Coralline Crag surrounded by the Red Crag Sea. Exposures of shelly sand can be seen in the nearby Rockhall Wood SSSI. http://geosuffolk.co.uk/index.php/pliocene-forest
Sunday 9th August 2020
Essex Natural History Show. Organized by the Essex Field Club. There are exhibits and activities on all aspects of natural history including geology and fossils. The Green Centre, Wat Tyler Country Park, Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, near Basildon SS16 4UH. 11am to 5pm. Free admission (small charge for some activities and refreshments). See www.essexfieldclub.org.uk for details.
Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th October 2020.
Rock and Gem Show, Chelmsford City Racecourse, Great Leighs, Essex CM3 1QP. 10:00am – 5.00pm Saturday & 10am – 4pm Sunday. Free parking, refreshments. Admission charge. Rock & Gem Shows are held at numerous venues around the country each year. They concentrate on polished stones and jewelry but there are usually several stalls of minerals and fossils. For further details: www.rockngem.co.uk
