An amazing geology weekend

Last time we spoke, I was heading on a geology field trip to South Devon and Torquay.  I didn't know what to expect, but all I can say was that whatever expectations I had going into the trip, they were far exceeded during the time spent there.

We started off at 8 in the morning on Friday.  We all packed into a large coach bus, and a few others packed into smaller mini buses, and we headed out from Royal Holloway.  We stopped at a rest stop called the Membury Service Station.  It is similar to an American Truckstop.  But I've got to hand it to the Brits for this one: they sure outdo our truckstops.  This had 2 grocery stores, a KFC, a Burger King, a mini-casino, public showers, a Starbucks, a cellphone outlet, a hotel, and a sit in restaurant. Not only that, but it was all in one large building, complete with escalators.  Similar to a mall but on a smaller scale.

Once we grabbed a bit of food to save until lunch, we started off until we came to Portishead, which is on the channel next to Bristol on the lower west side of the island.
Here, we dove straight into geology, and I had a trial by fire.

Low Tide

Lighthouse

 

 

 

Even got to see a crab.  Dead.

After having a bit of time in the field, they gave us a break before we were to continue our journey.  So we went and played on the swings!

Once we had finished there, I had decided to switch from the giant coach bus into one of the minibuses, as they are quite different than the ones in the US. I lament that I did not take a photo of said buses.  From Portishead, we drove to the Field Center.  It was called Colehayes Park.  It was not what I expected at all in a field center.

Colehayes Field Center

Exterior of Estate

Brook running through the property

Waterfall by brook

The Garden

The living room, with a real open fire.  One of my friends from back home said it best, "It's like you are playing a real-life game of Clue!"

As you can probably imagine, I had never stayed in such a place in my life.  They made us breakfast and dinner, and gave us plenty of supplies for making field sandwiches before we left in the morning.


The next morning, we left for Torquay, which is south, on the English Channel.  The day was a bit rough and windy, but we managed to have a good time.

English Channel

Looking at mudstone overlain by a conglomerate

Beach at low tide

But the highlight of the day was this beauty here that passed us as we made our way around.

A genuine steam engine, actually running a line.  It was pulling carriages as well, all with names like in Thomas the Tank Engine.

Sunday we made our way to Burrator Dam.  Luckily for us, the sun came out for once, making everything more enjoyable.

Wonderful formation of sandstone and intrusive granite.

Hard at work in the name of America!

Once we finished there, we set out to Torbay, a little village on the coast of the English Channel.  Here we looked at fossils as well as folds.

The rock in the foreground had ridiculous amounts of fossils

The English Channel

Fault line with water

Strike-slip fault

you can't really tell, but this is a steep rock we had to go on, with a bit of a fall if you had bad luck.

Sun reflecting off a tide pool

Then we headed home.  The best thing, though, was the new friends I made through this experience.  It is amazing, and we really grew as a class throughout the weekend.