Field Trips for 2023
Please let us know if you have particular requests or would be interested to lead a fieldtrip or happy to lend a hand with the organisation of fieldtrips. We had excellent attendance at all the trips last year and we are more limited by the ability to organise than by potential participants!
Email: royalgeolsoccornwall@gmail.com 
Sunday 15 October 2023
Reading the Rocks’ at Bude. Leader: Elle Allen
10.00 am – 12.30 pm for more mobile members only - details below
1.30 pm – 3.00 pm for the less mobile members - details below
Joining Instructions to attend one or both visits, see below.
10.00 am – 12.30 pm for the more mobile members only (Northern end – Maer Cliffs).
This trip visits some outstanding folds plus some sedimentary features and is a good opportunity to find out how to use a vital geologists’ tool – the compass clinometer. Bude is an amazing location for geologists. Tectonic features like folds and faults are clear to observe and measure. Together with numerous sedimentary features the rocks can be read to explain how the geology of the area has evolved. The history of Bude’s initial sedimentation through tectonic uplift, contortion and then erosion will all be revealed, and you will learn how geologists unravel geological mysteries!
The morning session entails a bit of scrambling down rocks onto First Cove, and then around a small headland so it is not a suitable visit for those with mobility issues. However, it is worth the effort to see what folds look like in cross-section (from the beach) and then from above in map view (from the top of the cliffs) to help understand geological maps. Some of the sedimentary features are outstanding.
(Whaleback image below from ‘Visit Bude’)
The afternoon session (1.30 pm – 3.00 pm for the less mobile members (Southern end near Bude canal) starts from a different car park at the other end of Bude and is more accessible, but you will still be able to see some evidence of the geological history of the area. There is a half-mile walk along the canal to the coastal path. It is tarmac but there are some fairly steep slopes. You can see some stunning features from the coast path and breakwater (it is still a scramble to get down to the whaleback) and if you can manage the slipway there are some good folds nearer the harbour.
Please let Beatrice know if you are only coming to join us in the afternoon.
Free to RGSC members, £5 non-members (please bring your £5 in a sealed and named envelope, even better consider joining RGSC, it is only £15).
Facilities: There are toilets and cafes at the meeting car parks at both ends of Bude.
Clothing and PPE: Please come ready for rain or shine and wear good walking shoes/boots. Hard hats are essential in the morning and can be provided – let us know if you need to borrow one.
Please send Beatrice Kerno (beatricekerno@yahoo.co.uk) your name, contact phone number, and emergency contact details (name and phone number) to receive the joining instructions.