Summer Field Programme 2026

Wednesday 12th August at 10am – Lathkildale
Leader: Prof. Vanessa Banks (BGS)

The excursion will start at 10am at Alport Bridge, River Lathkill near Youlgreave. After looking at the Alport tufa. We will follow the valley upstream to Over Haddon, exploring the interplay between bedrock and superficial geology, mining and hydrology. After a lunch stop in Over Haddon. We will return to Alport, initially along the top of the valley, and consider the role of hydrology in landscape incision. The trip will follow public footpaths. There are parking, toilets and public house facilities in Over Haddon and Youlgreave. There is limited parking in Alport. Bring warm & waterproof clothing and walking boots. 

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