Field Visits Program for 2023
*please read the Advice and Safety notes below
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  • Booking is essential for all visits
  • Due to insurance requirements, only ERMS members may take part in these Field Visits. Fortunately, it is very easy to join ERMS and become a member.
  • Please note the clothing and footwear requirements, especially for those visits to working quarries
  • Please email Linda Powell (lindacardy@hotmail.co.uk) ​to reserve a place. Alternatively, text or telephone    07882 282583​
  • ​​​​Please do not 'turn up' at a field visit in the hope that you can take part. Everyone must book a place beforehand. 
  • If you subsequently decide not to come, or expect to arrive late, please telephone the number above so that a message may be passed to the leader and participants will not be kept waiting.​​​
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​Saturday 18th March         Bull’s Lodge Quarry, Boreham
​Visit to this working quarry (no under 18s permitted). 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. Helmet, boots and high visibility jacket are all essential.
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Sunday 16th April                             Walton on the Naze
Fine exposures of Red Crag and London Clay where fossils may be found.A garden sieve and a trowel will be useful. Children are particularly welcome.
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​Sunday 23rd April                  Steeple - London Clay site
​A visit to Steeple Bay to study the Eocene London Clay exposure on the foreshore of the River Blackwater. Note: the site can be extremely muddy, wellington boots and waterproofs are essential.
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Saturday 3rd June               Highwood Quarry, Dunmow

Sunday 2nd July                                           Barham Dig
Lead by Robert Davis of the British Museum
Sunday XXth July Museum trips: Oxford NHM / Sedgwick
A visit to 
​Sat/Sun XXth August               Three Dunmow Churches
​Visit 
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​Saturday XXth September                   Coleman’s Quarry
Our fourth visit to this working quarry (no under 18s permitted).  Kesgrave Thames river gravels contain boulders and pebbles from as far as North Wales and S.W. England, and Hertfordshire Puddingstone. Helmet, boots and high visibility jacket are all essential. 
​Sunday   17th September                Coach trip to Oxford
A visit to the Oxford Museum. Details to follow
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Saturday XXth October    ​North Stifford & Mardyke Valley
​A visit to North Stifford Church which has a great variety of interesting rocks in its walls. Followed by a visit to the nearby Mardyke Valley. The trip will be an introduction to the fascinating geology of this part of Essex.
​Sat/Sun XXth November   Geology at the British Museum
A

    Important information, advice and safety notes for field visits 
 
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.
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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 and when they were found (identification can always be done later). ​