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Branch Organiser Cliff Probert 21 Dunscore Brae Hamilton ML3 9DH Tel 01698 828209

Email: west.scotland@ougs.orgUU

Grampian Migmatic Complex

Carrbridge

27 to 29 June

Leader Dr Simon Cuthbert

Booking form at end of newsletter

Treasurer

Hammy Corrance

36 Bensley Avenue Girdle Toll

Ayrshire KA11 1AJ 01294 212801

Branch Web Site:

http://ougs.org.

ERRATIx

OPEN UNIVERSITY GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY ~ WEST OF SCOTLAND BRANCH ~ NEWSLETTER

February 2014

West is Best

Ed’s ramblings

Well, the AGM was a good social occasion and Cliff has organised some mouth-watering trips already for 2014.

The committee was re-elected for another year and although everyone is reasonably happy to carry on, it is worrying that we have few new faces turning up. The Branch could do with some rejuvenation – although not necessarily young members, new faces would be refreshing I’m sure.

Think about coming along to the May day-trip – or even the June weekend.There is nothing like getting out and putting your nose on a rock to make geology come alive.

The weather has not been conducive to getting out and about this winter but hopefully spring is just around the corner. My first daffodil has just burst bud today to join the myriad of snowdrops!

Joyce

ELECTRONIC ERRATIx Over half of our readers now receive their copy of ERRATIX via e-mail as a PDF file (300-500KB). If anyone else would like to do so, then please let me know (Adobe Reader can be downloaded free). Benefits are: • You’ll receive your copy 2-3 days ahead of postal delivery • It will be in glorious technicolour • You can store your copy on hard disk or print off if you wish – saving shelf space • Postal costs to the Society will be reduced.

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BRANCH ORGANISER’S NOTE

Hello Everyone A Happy New Year to everyone and I hope 2014 will be a good one. Thirteen members from the West of Scotland Branch attended this year’s AGM and Burns Supper weekend in Pitlochry at the end January. The weekend was organised by Stuart Swales and members of East of Scotland Branch. The morning field trip was to Strath Fionan where the group looked at several exposures relating to the metamorphics of the Appin Group of the Dalradian. After the AGM, Luiz Albornoz-Parra from BGS gave us a very enthusiastic and interesting presentation on the difficulties of conserving building stones. An excellent Burns Supper was followed by some very entertaining readings and recitals including a few tunes on the bagpipes from John Duncan. The evening was completed with a good-natured quiz run by Stuart Swales. This year the Lindsay Hamilton trophy was awarded to Julian Overnell. So many thanks to everyone for helping with the weekend and making it so enjoyable. The members of the committee are the same as last year with Hammy Corrance, Treasurer, Joyce Rammell, Newsletter Editor and Branch Website Co-ordinator and Julian Overnell, Librarian, and so there is a vacancy for an Events Organiser. However this will be my last year as Branch Organiser and so I would be interested to hear from anyone who would be prepared to take over the role. The first field trip of the year will be a day trip to the Bathgate Hills led by Dr Andrew McLeish and I am arranging a weekend trip based at Carrbridge and brief description of both trips is now available on the website. In addition I hope to put on a couple of other day trips for later in the year. We are always interested to hear from any member with suggestions for future events and who are willing to help with the organising of events. This year the Society AGM will be held in Edinburgh over the weekend of March 28th – 30th, so I hope many of you will be able to attend for some or all of the weekend. It is very rarely this event comes this far north and so this is a good opportunity to meet with people from other branches This is very much a social event and will include field trips, a lecture, and evening meal followed by a quiz. Further details can be found on the main OUGS website. I look forward to seeing many of you on the field trips this year.

Best wishes Cliff

A gentle reminder that if you have not paid your 20 14 subscription, it is now overdue. For those remaining unpaid, the March OUGS newslett er will be the last one sent out and this West Scotland will be the final o ne.

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REPORT ON THE AGM WEEKEND We gathered at Pitlochry Youth Hostell at varying times on Friday 24th January, some self catering for a meal, others eating out and even more utilising the various takeaway establishments in the town. Most then gathered at the Fishers Hotel to socialise, listen to the superb live music on offer and even dance with the locals. On Saturday, there was the FIELD TRIP……. Stuart Swales used his local knowledge to organise the hardy souls who were prepared to battle the weather on Saturday morning for a trip to upper Strath Fionan to look at the Dalradian Appin Group rocks. We found some good examples in a roadside quarry and just as we started examining the outcrop, the rain started. Driving rain and sleet did not deter the intrepid geologists and after an aborted foray up a burn for some, we progressed downslope through a planation to search for the Appin Quartzite. However, and not unexpectedly, we were thwarted by a torrent at the foot of the hill. Unable to cross, we retraced our steps and on reaching the road, we found a concerned ghillie who advised us of stalking taking place within the area.

Not wanting to be caught up in a shooting incident, we meandered back to the car park finding some interesting roadside outcrops missed on the way up as we faced the driving rain. Back in the car park, we also examined some erratic boulders, doing a bit of diagnostic examination then wound our way back to the hostel for lunch, leaving further exploring for another AGM trip.

Folded outcrop in the quarry – before the rain started!

Michael was the only one to make it across……and there was nothing much to see

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Then there was the AGM…… MINUTES OF THE 2014 AGM Held at Pitlochry Youth Hostel on Saturday 2 nd February at 15.00 PRESENT Iain Allison, Ben Browne, Hammy Corrance, Maggie Donnelly, John Duncan, Stuart Fairley, David Hamilton, Jane Hickman, Julian Overnell, Cliff Probert, Joyce Rammell, Jacqueline Wiles. APOLOGIES Brenda Elias, Lindsay Ferguson, Seonaid Leishman, Iain Darroch, Catriona Darroch WELCOME Cliff Probert welcomed everyone 2014 AGM pleased to see such a good turn out. His annual report had already been circulated and he highlighted the trips held in the previous year. The field trips are becoming more important to those members still studying since the OU is no longer holding Summer Schools where we have all benefitted from the intensive field visits and input from experienced tutors. The first trip had been a day out at Kinghorn with Dr Andrew McLeish searching for fossils and studying the local Carboniferous limestone and volcanics. In May, the long-awaited week long trip to the north West Highlands. The group was based at Inchnadamph Lodge and each of the days led by Dr Iain Allison followed an excursion from the new Excursion Guide to the north-West Highlands edited by Kathryn Goodenough and Maarten Krabbendam. A day out to the Arrochar volcanics complex with leader Dr Chris Burton in August saw the group examine an igneous intrusion and spend time poring over an abandoned quarry. Some members joined the Geological Society of Glasgow outing to study the Dalradian stratigraphy of the Ben Lawers synform and Ben Lui fold, led by Drs John Mendum and Graham Leslie. MINUTES OF LAST AGM The minutes of the 2013 AGM had been circulated and copies were available at the meeting. There were no matters arising and no changes proposed. Adoption of the minutes proposed Julian John Duncan seconded Maggie Donnelly FINANCIAL REPORT Hammy reported that there had not been much activity in the account for another year. The major spends are Branch Organiser expenses to group meetings and the Newsletter. The timing of the AGM and closure of the accounts at the end of December always manages to give false indications with AGM deposits and bill payments as the event is organised by West Scotland alternately with the East. There is a health balance but that will be eroded gradually as the Branch Grant currently does not cover costs. The Field Trip account is in credit but operated at a slight loss over the year.

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There was a short discussion about how we might cut costs overall but no firm conclusion was reached. It was proposed that we might use some of the field trip account surplus accrued gradually over the years to purchase maps to cover each field trip that we organise. Adoption of the accounts proposed Stuart Fairley seconded Jacqueline Wiles NEWSLETTER Joyce reported that she had again managed four newsletters in 2014, similar to the previous year. She thanked those members who had contributed with trip write-ups. She emphasized that any write-up or small article would be very welcome as she didn’t have the weekend time to attend many field trips herself and newsletters with no content are not worthwhile. WEBSITE Joyce had struggled to add much in the way of information but would try to improve content this coming year. A page to illustrate the Lindsay Hamilton Trophy would be added soon, now that the content was in place. LIBRARY Julian had again decided not to bring the library to the AGM to save space in the car, but on hindsight, it could have been an opportunity for members to browse and perhaps borrow. The list was on the website which any member could access to borrow books or maps. It was decided that he should purchase a copy of ‘Dalaradian of Scotland’ for the branch. ELECTION OF OFFICE BEARERS BRANCH ORGANISER Cliff Probert made himself available for re-election but said that this would be his final year. There were no other offers Proposer Stuart Fairley seconder Hammy Corrance EVENTS ORGNISER The post of Events Organiser was offered but found no takers. It is an important post as it is too much to ask the Branch Organiser to take on that post as well as organise all the trips. With no offers, it was left open to co-opt during the year if possible and all members present were urged to take on some of the responsibility. TREASURER Hammy agreed to carry on for another year as there were no offers from the assembled company. David Hamilton agreed to carry on as auditor of the accounts. Proposer Maggie Donnelly seconder Jane Hickman NEWSLETTER Joyce Rammell intimated that she was happy to carry on with the newsletter for another year unless someone else had literary ambitions. There were no takers. Proposer Jane Hickman seconder Hammy Corrance WEBSITE The post of managing the website was offered but had no takers. Joyce agreed to carry on in the meantime. Proposer Maggie Donnelly seconder Jacqueline Wiles

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GENERAL COMMITTEE It was decided that there was no real enthusiasm for anyone to join the general committee and, as meetings are generally informal during trips or at the Glasgow Society evenings, there was no urgency for more committee members EVENTS FOR 2014 Cliff had been busy and reported that Andrew McLeish had agreed to lead a trip to the Bathgate Hills on 17th May. Simon Cuthbert had offered to lead a weekend trip Carrbridge to examine the migmatic complex there and the dates chosen were 27th to 29th June. There were more possibilities in August with options offered by Neil Clark and Chris Burton. The annual Post Exam weekend had been missed in 2013 but Stuart Fairley offered to look at running a weekend this year. Maggie reported that she was busy organising a second day trip for the Glasgow Society to the gold mine at Tyndrum together with a visit to Glen Orchy and offered to see if a similar trip could be run for West of Scotland Branch. As the mine trip is restricted in numbers, it would have to be run on a ‘first come first served’ basis. This was met with great enthusiasm with a possible date being late September or early October. Iain Allison broached the subject of a mapping week in Skye that he would be prepared to lead. As there were a few trips already prepared for this year, he proposed May 2015. The company decided to start looking out the coloured pencils now. AOCB The National AGM will be held on 29th March in Edinburgh this year. The weekend will include a talk by Prof Brian Upton on the Friday evening as well as the Geoff Brown Memorial Lecture to be delivered by Fiona McGibbon, University of Edinburgh and OU lecturer. The venue is the Holiday Inn next to Edinburgh Zoo. Members are urged to attend if at all possible. All members are urged to attend. There being no more business, the meeting was closed at 16.45. ……..and a superb TALK…… The speaker for the AGM talk was Luis Albornoz-Parra from the BGS in Edinburgh and his subject was The Building Stones of Scotland. He enthralled us with his fast-moving trip around the country, describing how everywhere the local stone was used for building utilising whatever rock was in the vicinity, highlighting both Edinburgh and Glasgow. He showed us how the huge number of small local quarries around the country had dwindled to just a current few. He also showed photographs of ancient quarries and how the stone was worked in the past…and the increasing loss of stonemasons’ expertise in their geological knowledge. He highlighted the problems he faces at work where he helps source suitable building stone for conservation projects around the country. Sometimes he is able to find stone with appropriate qualities in this country but increasingly stone is imported from abroad to repair some of Scotland’s iconic buildings.

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..then the BURNS SUPPER It was East Scotland’s year to prepare the supper and the celebration was set on similar lines to 2013.The ‘other’ Ann prepared the soup and the main course was again supplied by MacDonald’s with members providing the dessert. Stuart Fairley addressed the haggis which was piped in as usual by John Duncan. After dinner, we were entertained to songs by Alison Bramley, aided by the company. Various recitations of Burns’ work were given by Julian Overnell, Joyce Rammell and Maggie Donnelly who had props at the ready.

David Hamilton presented the Lindsay Hamilton Trophy to Julian Overnell for his services to the Branch. With no Phyllis this year, Stewart Swales had prepared a quiz to end

the festivities and at the end of the evening, after various queries over what constituted a correct answer, the winner were declared in a close-run contest and presented with goodies donated by OUGS Sales. Numbers had been up this year and it is a committee hope that more members will make the journey for a fun-filled weekend in 2015.

Stuart addressing the haggis

Some of the assembled company enjoying the meal

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FUTURE EVENTS

And Talks

A reminder that the committee is always looking for ideas for field trips. If there is any location that you have a burning desire to visit, c ontact Cliff and we can try to organise a leader and gather a nucleus of enthusiasts to accom pany you. Contacts Cliff Probert: 01698 828209 west.scotland@ougs.org OUGS: http://ougs.org Stuart Swales: 01887 840377; east.scotland@ougs.org (AGS) Aberdeen Geological Society . Lectures – Thursdays in the Meston Building, University of Aberdeen, Old Aberdeen at 6.30 pm. For further details see UU Uwww.aberdeengeolsoc.co.uk

(EGS) Edinburgh Geological Society . Lectures are held Wednesdays, 7.30 pm in the Hutton Lecture Theatre in the Grant Institute of Geology, on the University of Edinburgh's King's Buildings campus. For details of field trips please contact the EGS Excursions Secretary, e-mail excursions@edinburghgeolsoc.orgT. For further details see www.edinburghgeolsoc.org. (GSG) Geological Society of Glasgow . Lectures are held Thursdays, 7.30 pm in the Gregory Building, Lilybank Gardens, University of Glasgow. For details of lectures and field trips please contact secretary, Dr Simon Cuthbert geolsocglas@uk2.net. For further details see Uwww.geologyglasgow.org.uk

(HGS) Highland Geological Society . Lectures are held at 7.15 pm in the Fairways Leisure Centre, Castle Heather, Inverness. For details of events please contact Alison Wright, a.j.wright00@aberdeen.ac.uk. Website: http://www.spanglefish.com/highlandgeologicalsociet

Date Location Details Organiser Contact

28th – 30th March Holiday Inn, Edinburgh OUGS AGM Stuart Swales Check Events page on

website

17th May Bathgate Hills Dr Andrew McLeish Cliff Probert Check Events page on

website

27th – 29th June Carrbridge

Grampian magmatic complex Leader Dr Simon Cuthbert University of W Scotland

Cliff Probert

west.scotland@ougs.org Booking form final page of this newsletter

Date Organiser Details Venue Time

13 March 2014 Geological Society of Glasgow

New Interpretations of the Caledonian Geology of Shetland Dr Rob Strachan (University of Portsmouth)

Glasgow University Gregory Building 7.30pm

10 April 2014 Geological Society of Glasgow

Continental flood Basalts of the Faroe Islands and the opening of the North Atlantic Dr Simon Passey (University of Cambridge)

Glasgow University Gregory Building 7.30pm

8 May 2014 Geological Society of Glasgow

Members Night Glasgow University Gregory Building 7.30pm

MEMBERSHIP It is even more important for continuing students to remain society members with the demise of Summer Schools. OUGS is the best way to get out into the real geology of our wonderful countryside and learn first hand from the experts in their field.

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OUGS West of Scotland Branch Visit to Grampians, Scotland

27th – 29th June 2013 Based at Cairn Hotel, Carrbridge

Itinerary : We will meet up at the hotel on Friday 27 June and depart on 29 June. If time allows after we have all gathered, Simon may give a brief introduction to the geology we will encounter over the course of the weekend. Travel to the various locations will be by car. Accommodation: We will be staying at the Cairn Hotel Carrbridge (www.cairnhotel.co.uk (Tel No 01479 841 212) or the adjacent Craigallichie Guest House. I have provisionally reserved beds on bed & breakfast basis at a cost in the region of £35 - £45 per person per night. Limited number of single rooms. You will have to provide your own packed lunch but evening meals can be provided by the hotel. RISKS: Grassy slopes, slippery rocks, wind, rain and midges a distinct possibility. What to bring? WATERPROOFS, boots, warm clothing etc. A personal 1st Aid kit is always handy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please complete the form and return to C Probert, 21 Dunscore Brae, Hamilton, ML3 9DH Tel: 01698-828209 Name:.......................................................................................................................................... Address : ...................................................................................................................................................... Post Code :.................. Tel No :...........................Email :........................................................ I/we enclose a non-returnable cheque for £20 per p erson, as deposit to cover leaders expenses, payable to "OUGS West of Scotland Branch – Field Tr ip A/C" . I/we confirm that I/we have read the OUGS Insurance Notice printed in the National Newsletter. Please complete/delete as appropriate below Type of Accommodation Single Room Twin Room Double Room I will make my own accommodation arrangements If you are bringing your own car please indicate if you are willing to provide YES/NO transport for other during the weekend I/We acknowledge that this does not constitute a holiday under the Package Travel Regulations 1992 YES/NO and that I need to book my own travel insurance Do you have any special dietary requirements? YES/NO Please specify: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Signed......................................................................... Date.................................................. Emergency Contact Details: If an emergency arises whilst I am on the excursion the Society may contact the following person(s); Name: …………………………………………….. Telephone: ………………………………. Name: ……………………………………………… Telephone: ……………………………….