Summer Field Programme 2026

Evening Field Excursion to Goyt’s Moss (Derbyshire Bridge)
19:00 on Thursday 18th June 2026

An evening field trip to explore the sedimentary Carboniferous strata of the Upper Goyt Valley at Goyt’s Moss at the head of the scenic Goyt Valley.

Please meet at the NT Derbyshire Bridge car park at 7.00 pm. Grid ref: SK 0185 7155 , W3W: exotic.bells.hinders. Access is via a minor road from the A537 Macclesfield to Buxton road. There is also access via a one way minor road travelling north from the Errwoood reservoir. There is parking but unfortunately the toilets at the site are closed (at time of writing).
Exposures date from the Langsettian c. 319 Ma, the earliest sub-stage of the Westphalian, and lie within the Goyt Syncline. Traces remain of historical small scale coal mining.

We will examine the exposures and what they reveal about changing depositional environments as well as looking at structural geology. There is even a (small) chance of finding a fossil or two.

Walking will be less than a mile in total along a mixture of tarmac road and paths (occasionally rough), approximately one half is level and the remainder up and down a moderate incline.

Saturday 12th September at 10.00am – Bradgate Park Charnwood Forest (including Precambrian outcrops with Charnia fossils).
Leader: Dr. J Carney (BGS) 

Meeting time: 10.00am at the Hunts Hill car park (SK 5232 1167). Pay by cash or phone(was £5.50). Toilets just inside the entrance. We can also call in at the main visitors centre about 2 hours into the walk. Distance about 4-5 miles over hilly terrain with occasional minor rocky scrambles. This is a deer park with bracken- need to check for ticks. Stout footwear. Warm & waterproof clothes. Packed lunch. No need for hard hats.

Charnwood Forest is one of only six locations exposing the geological basement of England, On the circular walk we will examine the rocks of the Charnian Supergroup formed 560-570 million years ago at the very end of the Precambrian (Proterozoic ) Eon. Although of sedimentary origin, these rocks are composed entirely of the volcanic detritus (crystals & ashy material) deposited during eruptions into seas that surrounded an active Caribbean island arc. The world’s first colonies of complex life-forms flourished here and we will see some of their fossils at the nationally important site near the end of the walk. We will also see the spectacular nature of the unconformity between the Precambrian and the Triassic. We will pass the ruins of Bradgate House, the childhood home of the tragic Lady Jane Grey.

Please contact NSGGA Field Secretary: Steve Alcock steves261@aol.com indicating which trip(s) you plan to attend, name(s), address(es) and contact details of attendees, and those of a person to be contacted in case of emergency during the trip.

Each person attending field meetings does so at their own risk. The NSGGA has public liability insurance through a GA insurance policy that also carries limited personal accident cover for members attending meetings or field trips. Non-members pay £2 to cover temporary membership giving them insurance cover. A field fee of £2 per head is normally charged for members and non-members to cover the leader’s expenses

A field fee of £2 per head is normally charged for members and non-members to cover the leader’s expenses