Beach trip with better weather than expected

After the beautifully sunny and calm trip to Cwm Idwal, the trip to Red Wharf Bay could almost only be a bit of an anticlimax. And the weather forecast was rain and wind. One of my colleagues even emailed me the day before to check if it would even take place. But I thought it would be OK. 

On the day, it was actually sunny when I arrived on main campus to wait for the coach. That was a bonus! And it was still sunny when we arrived on location. It was rather windy, and the wind was quite cold, but it was quite doable. 

I had a rather responsive group, but I was a bit worried to notice they hadn't remembered an awful lot of the material. They would have to do a lot of revision before the exam in May! But maybe that's normal.

We talk to them about all the evidence of the tectonic and sedimentary processes from the Silurian to the Carboniferous you can spot there, and then some from the last Ice Age. And then we were basically done. A little bit early! The weather had held the entire time. And the coaches hadn't gone anywhere, so we could just go back to campus a bit earlier than timetabled. I had been a bit worried about this trip, but in the end was lovely!

Lovely rock

Heading back

Marquess of Anglesey

If you are ever on Anglesey, it is difficult to fail to notice that there is a big commemorative column there, with the statue on top. The statue is of the Marquess of Anglesey. It's located near Britannia Bridge, the main access route to the island. And it towers over the landscape. I had been aware of it, obviously, since I moved there. But it was closed. It used to be a tourist attraction, where you could walk an internal staircase to the top, and then stand underneath the actual statue, and have an amazing view. Lack of maintenance had put a stop that, though.

The column from the copse underneath it

Then it was renovated. And last year it opened again! I thought I'd like to go, but it never actually happened. But now that I happened to be on Anglesey with Neil anyway, we could give it a go. He is up for that sort of things as well.

It wasn't perfect weather, but it wasn't the worst either. We decided to go for it. The original column keeper’s cottage has now been turned into an office and a café, and there we bought tickets. A young lad stood by the actual column and wanted to see our tickets. And then we went in.

The new staircase is very respectful of the surroundings. You wouldn't know that it is new! And we were up in no time. We could hear the wind howl from a bit of a distance. It wasn't necessarily very comfortable up there, but we could see Britannia Bridge quite clearly, and Telford Bridge with some difficulty. And we got a good look at the actual marquess. I thought it was worth it! And I spotted some nice fossils in the limestone of the column.

The new staircase

The marquess from as close as you can get

The view

Column selfie

After a few minutes we went down again, and had a little chat with the young lad again. Then we all together went to the café. We probably were the last visitors of the day. Not only were they closing in about an hour, but also, the weather was turning quite bad. Not very many people would want to pay to get to a very exposed location in weather like that.

The café has a bit more information about the marquess, the column, and all of that. We didn't think it said enough about the actual marquess: Henry Paget. We supplemented the information given with some googling.

It turned out that this man had been born in London, and at the age of 22 had for some unexplained reason been parachuted in to stand for election in the constituency of Caernarfon, and had been elected. That was his linked to Anglesey. In the Napoleonic war, he has been second in command to the Duke of Wellington, and had apparently lead a very successful charge on the French troops. That sounded like plenty of reason get him a statue. And be given the title of marquess. 

The statue was decades younger than the column, by the way; the latter had been raised straight after the napoleonic war, but the statue had only been added to it after the Marquess’ death. Which was decades later. This probably meant he had been lucky; during the aforementioned charge, he had been hit by a cannonball, and his leg had to be amputated. That's not a trivial injury. And he was a rather rich amputee, and had been able to commission a rather good prosthetic leg. That seems to then have turned into a bit of a prototype for prosthetics for generations to come.

On the way back I briefly pointed out the blueschists the column stands on. They are special! 

Altogether we had a rather successful addition to our outing to the racetrack. We had had views about as good as you could have had on that day, we had learned some local history (and geology), and we had supported the local economy. Not the worst score if I may say so!

More Orme exploration

Some time ago I had been doing some exploration on the Orme with Neil. But there is a lot more to see! So on a day the weather would turn bad at some point, and we didn't want to do a huge hike, we went again. He showed me the Rocking Stone, Elephant Cave, and Happy Valley, and we ended up on a beach I hadn't previously even realised existed. They even was a tunnel on it. And lots of nicely exposed fossils.

View over the promenade 

Elephant Cave

Handsome stairs in Happy Valley 

Fossils (corals and crinoids) on the beach

The beach

If you zoom in you see both adult and baby seals

We also looked at all geological formations we hadn't previously looked at. And on the way back, we had a look at one of the stations of the funicular tramway. I had not seen that! There are some big winches pulling these trams up, and letting them back down. I suppose the general system has become unpleasantly famous since it went horribly wrong in Portugal.

When it rained in the afternoon, we finished looking at a podcast which was basically a long interview with my old colleague Jan Smit, talking about the extinction of the dinosaurs, and everything associated with that. We had started that the evening before. It wasn't very spectacularly done, but I was glad that Neil was transfixed anyway!

We had a lovely time! And I'm sure that there is still an awful lot more to see on the Orme. I look forward to it already!

The Orme for biking and geology

It was a bank holiday! So we had the Monday off. You might have guessed it: I decided to spend it with Neil. And we decided to focus on two activities we both like but have a completely different approach to: biking and staring at rocks.

I love my bike commute, but I very rarely use my bicycle for exercise. Road biking is his main sport. I thought we might see if we are vaguely compatible, so I brought my bike in when I visited. And after some coffee and cake we got on our bikes. We would do just a simple loop around the Orme. It's not really far! But it would be far enough to get an idea of whether we might want to do this at longer distances in the future.

Neil lives a bit more than halfway up the Orme, and we decided to go up first. That first bit is quite steep! I couldn't keep up with Neil. And on the downhill, past St Tudno’s church, I obviously couldn't either because whether I'm on a bike or on my feet; downhill I'm not very fast. But the difference wasn't painful. And I was on a relatively heavy commuter bike, while he was on a featherlight carbon bike, and clipped in. 

It was nice to bike this road for a change! I had once driven around, and run around several times. And we had a little break for a sip of water at a point with very good views. 

We biked up by the church as well, as that is less steep than going the way I had driven. It was fine! But we didn’t take any pictures. 

Neil thinks he’s only faster because of his superior kit. I don’t know if that’s true. But we both enjoyed it so we will go and find out. I’d say this won’t have been the last time we do this.

There was still time so we did a little geology trip too. Neil wanted to know more about the Orme, and I love swotting up on things like that, so I had done a little search, and found a field guide. We could fit in one or two locations! And we did. We mostly looked at a sandy freshwater member, but also looked for Brachiopods in a limestone formation. 

We finished it all off with a beer with his neighbour. A good day! I think all of it will be followed up…

The sandy member with a sheep on top

On the way back

Exploring the Orme

Some time ago I explored some of the old quarries at Penmaenmawr with my date. We had a great time! And there's more to explore in the area. One of these places is the Great Orme. So we headed there as well.

Most of my interaction with the Great Orme has been either running around it during races, or driving to the top to visit the mine for rescue practice. I had only once had a good rummage on top of it when I went running there just for fun. 

I love geology, and my date is very interested in that as well, so we spent quite a lot of time with our noses quite close to the lithology. But he also pointed out peculiarities of structures there, and several historic places, and a glacial sinkhole. He knows the place well. It was also lovely weather. We had a whale of a time! I'm sure we can go back and still see lots of new things. And even if we don't. It's a beautiful place and the views are amazing!

 

Just above town. Notice the tram!

 

Views from higher up

 

Tramline to the horizon

 

Amazing fossils in a wall

I think we found where it came from

Last geology field trip of the academic year

We have six trips in the geological module, and we now have got to number five. I have a timetable clash for the sixth one, so this was my last. But it was a good one to end with.

This was the trip to Rhosneigr, with a little bonus of blueschists with the Marquess of Anglesey (or more accurately, a statue of him) on top. The blueschists are a clear indicator of subduction. And it’s pretty as well!

The Marquess

The blueschists, looking green because of algae growing on top of them. Am I pointing at two pillows from pillow lava? 

We had some slight trouble with the vehicle we were using; more often than not it was claiming that there was a door open, and still claiming that if we had slammed all of them shut with really more force than needed to get them properly closed. We are not quite sure what that was about.  

In the Rhosneigr area we first look at some contact metamorphism; there is a (Precambrian) granitic intrusion in that area, and there are also some rocks exposed to that have been baked by this. So we look at both. And then we make a bit of a jump. From there we go straight to Ordovician sandstones and conglomerate. That is something where Jaco go out with sediment dynamics. 

Llyn Maelog 

Talking about rocks with a lot of disruption 

We finish it off on the beach, where there are more sedimentary rocks, but with these we focus on the deformation. It's mudstone with interbedded turbidites, and these are beautifully deformed. 

Beautifully deformed rock

It was stunning weather for this trip! That did have the unwanted effect, though, that it was fine weather for flying around, and the location is really close to a military airport. Propeller airplanes flying overhead makes it impossible to make yourself heard, but a fighter jet flying overhead actually hurts your ears.

I think it was a good trip. And then next week the two gentlemen round things off without me. And then we'll do it all again next year! 

Windy Parys

It was such lovely weather the first days of the week we were going to do the Parys Mountain trip! Unfortunately, the forecast said it wouldn't last. That day we were scheduled to go was going to be the worst of the whole week.

When the day approached the weather forecast got worse, and acquired a weather warning for wind, with gusts over 60 mph. Oh dear! Parys Mountain stands proud of Anglesey, and if it gets gusty, being on top of it makes you feel the full force of the wind. What should we do?

I briefly discussed with Dei. Postpone or shorten? The weather would be the worst in the morning, and would improve during the day. If we would go at lunchtime we would avoid the worst of it. And that was what we decided to do.

I was the first one to get out of the vehicle when we got there, and I immediately felt the brunt of the strong wind. Earlier that day it must've been awful up there. But we all zipped up our jackets and went for went to the viewing platform. Quite many of the students hadn't been there before, and they looked like they thought it was worth it. It is, after all, an amazing place.

We didn't linger as we figured it would be more sheltered in the pit, so that was where we went next. And we admired the view on the fold, and the Central Boss, and the remains of the black smoker. When we were at the Central Boss we did get rained on, but fortunately only briefly. Later the sun even came out!

When we were done with the geology there was a little bit of time left for history, which Dei took care of. And then we went back to the vehicle.

It was a bit touch and go this year, but I think we pulled it off! Let's hope that our next trip will have nicer weather…

Great field day near Cemaes

In the middle of another busy week with lecture preparations and marking, we would do the third excursion of our field trip module. I had been there at the first one on Llanddwyn, but skipped the second one to Rhoscolyn. Now we would do Cemaes. That is a lovely trip! Or at least, the geology is lovely. The trip can still be a challenge, of course. But this time the signs were good: the logistics had been organised in advance (unlike last time), and the weather forecast was chilly but otherwise good.

I biked in, and met Dei by one of the vehicles. and it turned out we could actually fit everything into one of them. So we left the other one behind. 

In Cemaes we first went to see a stromatolite. And some clastic rocks with a lot of dykes cutting through. I talked about the stromatolite and Dei about the rest. I had requested one of the earlier outcrops so the students would get the message early on that women have things to say. I remember one time not getting an outcrop until the students were knackered. I didn't like that at all. I am still on that gender representation bandwagon! And I think this time it went well.

Dei talking about a dyke

After that first site we walked to the beach, where we looked at the ‘white lady’ sea stack. And from there to the mélange outside the bay. And then we sat down for lunch. It was a beautiful day, but also a quite cold one, so even though it wasn't very windy we wanted to sit in a sheltered spot. And we did.

This is a beach, honest

Amazing old clasts in a conglomeritic phyllite

After lunch I showed them the much better looking stromatolite, and pointed out the thrust fault in the cliff behind Saint Patrick’s cave. And then we went back to the vehicle.

On the other side of the promontory we left all the talking to Jaco. He showed the students conglomerates plastered against a quartzite. This time we clambered over the cliff, and saw some aspects of the contact between the two lithologies we hadn't seen before. Fascinating! But then, when Jaco was explaining fining-upward sequences, it started to rain a bit. And by then I also think everyone was getting tired. So we went back to the vehicle for the final time.

Notice some pebbles plastered against the quartzite 

Dei and me watching Jaco talk from above

Back in Bangor it was fortunately dry. I managed to bike home without getting rained on too much. I was quite thirsty by then; I had biked in in the morning with two hot flasks of water. I didn't want to bring any more on the bicycle, as that would have required both pannier bags. And I also hadn't wanted to fill water containers in Bangor. And I had figured that if I would still be thirsty I could just refill the flasks in a stream. But there weren't many streams, and I never refilled anything, so when I got home I had literally only drank the content of these two flasks, even though I had left home at 8:45 and was back after 18:00. That's not good for me! So in spite of me drinking my body weight in water after coming home, I spent the whole next day still feeling the dehydration. That is why I sometimes choose to drive on a day like that. In a car you can bring all the water you want!

Dehydration aside, it had been a great day. The weather had been kind, and I felt we all had done our bit in telling the students about the geology. And I don't think anyone was stepping into anybody else's territory. So all in all, a great day!

Annual glaciological trip

This year, I had my glaciological trip the very day after an Anglesey geology trip. And that’s ok! The weather had been great the day before, so that was promising. 

This year I had booked a demonstrator. In earlier years, it had happened that Lynda had a migraine on the day and had to pull out at the last minute. And I had David stand me up as the first aider. So I had become cautious! I had reminded David several times so chances of him not appearing had been left as small as I can make them. And if Lynda would be ill I would still have my demonstrator, who was Finley, my old MSc student. 

Everybody made it. And almost all the students were there. There was a bit of a hiccup; the coach rental company had had a bit of a brain fart and not assigned us a big enough coach. Luckily, half the university was out on a trip, so they just swapped us around with another cohort that seemed to fit into our smaller vehicle. Then we were good to go.

At Pen-y-Pass we had the usual wait for all who needed the toilet to negotiate the queues. Or rather: queue, as of course there were plenty of loos for the needs of the gents. And then we were off! 

It was the wettest when we arrived on site. Quite some waterproofs were put on. But it stayed pretty much dry from then on! 

After my spiel the students spread out in small groups, and set out to collect their measurements. And soon afterwards I went off after them. It is important to check whether they are really measuring what they should measure. If they don't, the data set gets really difficult to interpret! I only had to move one group who had got the wrong end of the mistake. And it was good I also Lynda and Finley on the case.

Notice the small groups of students scattered around

The lake level was low and there were rocks available that are often submerged

I asked Finley to collect the locations of all groups on the map. And at some point I just sat down and had my lunch. I always struggle a bit too get my food and drink in if I am responsible for a trip! This is something that is easier during the Anglesey geology trips, where I am not the person with whom the buck stops. 

After a while every group was done, and some people were getting a bit cold. So I did my epilogue a bit earlier. And then we went down back to the youth hostel. You can't phone the coach driver to come and pick us up a bit earlier from that location as there is no phone signal there, but Finley had volunteered for walking in the direction of the village, and phoning him wherever that was possible. But on the way down we came past a patch with signal. I quickly phoned the coach driver while I could! And then had to leg it towards the front to stop Finley from walking off.

I think next year I will book the coach to pick us up a bit earlier. In the worst case, you don't have a complete data set, but you would still have a usable one. And it saves students from getting cold and bored. For this year it was done again. And two days later I had the complete data set!

I hope this cohort of students will do well on the field trip report. But that is a matter November. And after two days in the field I was glad to be able to do a few days in the office. Especially with the current avalanche of dissertation topic proposals I had to deal with!

Llanddwyn in the sun

With a new academic year we get another series of field trips with the freshers. And when we can, we start with Llanddwyn. And this year we could.

There was some confusion beforehand. I had asked Dei what the logistical plan was. Two vehicles delivered to main campus he said; the big one for him and the smaller one for Jaco or me. 

Then I got an email from the SOS receptionist. A car had been delivered for me, in Menai Bridge. I was puzzled. The head of our technical staff, who books vehicles, wasn’t in, so couldn’t clarify. Was it for the upcoming glaciology trip? I went to pick up the key. The car was clearly for the Monday, when we had the Llanddwyn trip, but Dei assured me it wasn’t anything to do with that. Weird! 

When I had already left I got a message from the head of technical stuff. It was for our trip! That was weird. And he specified it was for me, not for Jaco. That annoyed me if it; that means I would have to first go to Anglesey, pick up that car, drive back to Bangor, pick up the students, and then go back to Anglesey for the field trip. Wouldn't it have been a lot more practical to allocate it to Jaco? He lives on Anglesey!

On the very day it turned out okay, though; because of my ankle problems so I had hardly been running I was having exercise withdrawal symptoms. I quite often drive to work if I have a field trip on, basically because I carry so much more if I am out in the field all day than when I am just sitting in a comfortable office, and it is difficult to fit all that into my bicycle bags, and it can also be quite exhausting to be in the field all day. But with my exercise deficiency I biked in. So having to go to Menai Bridge was actually a good thing. And Jaco had reason to shoot off as early as possible, so it was good he wasn’t involved in ferrying students around. So that turned out ok.

The forecast was great. We drove there in blazing sunshine, and that pretty much stayed with us until the end. And I had put dibs on the first outcrop. I think it’s important to rapidly bring the message across that women have scientific things to say too. Of the men it’s unlikely they’d doubt that. 

Llanddwyn seen from a pillow lava

Walking to some limestone

The melange

We talked tectonics and Ocean Plate Stratigraphy and metamorphosis and ancient life. And as usual, we ended with the amazing melange at the far end of the peninsula. 

I think it was a success! Let’s hope the other trips go as well…

Badly organised day in the field

We had one more field day in the diary in our "geology of Anglesey" module. It's a day that often clashes with the dissertation presentations, so I have missed it several times. This year I was available. I didn't know if Dei wanted me to be there or not. He is very busy, so he sometimes needs a bit of prompting. I started mailing him to ask what the plan was. He just asked if Jaco and I were available. I confirmed. 

I didn’t hear anything so I assumed he didn’t need me. But on Sunday I decided to check anyway. The trip was Monday! It turned out he needed me anyway. He said I might as well meet at the beach. He specified the car park. 

I got there, surprised to not see Jaco’s car. He tends to be early. I got into my welly boots and had a coffee. Nobody appeared. It was a bit like an earlier trip, where Dei had figured wrongly I wasn’t coming, so just left me to my own devices on this same car park, while the others were on the other one. I figured that if nobody would show up half an hour in I would just go home. If you want me to contribute to your trip, then at least have the decency to tell me beforehand (during working hours), and direct me to the actual RV! 

I checked my phone. I had a missed call from Dei. I phoned back. They were indeed at the other car park. Dei said I might as well stay there; the group would walk past on the way to the beach. But I didn’t. I figured it was bad enough I had been sent to the wrong place. If I would just tag along on the way, I thought the message would be that men explain geology, and women tag along as assistants. Not on my watch. I got there just as Jaco was about to start his spiel. 

The first half of the trip is just Jaco running around with his hands in the air, being totally absorbed in the geology. He does it well! But I was still a bit grumpy. And I made sure to tell Dei that I wasn't pleased with how things had been going, and I expected better from him in the future. I hope that helps.

Beautiful rock

When Jaco had pointed out everything he wanted to point out we decided to have lunch. We figured a little grassy field in the dunes would probably be the most sheltered spot. It was indeed very pleasant!

After lunch the students were tasked with actually measuring the orientation of the strata. They tend to not have done this before, so in the beginning they struggle a bit. We each took a few students under our wing. And we clambered over the rocks to find good places to measure. The weather was nice, I felt useful, and my students were good company. My mood brightened again.

Lovely rock pool

We worked quite fast. In not too much time we were finished! And then we admired a few seals who had swum into the bay.

When all the measurements are done, Jaco tends to collate them, and discuss with the students what it means. But I was thinking of the dissertation presentations that were nigh, and for which I had a lot of preparations to do. I figured I might let Jaco do the data spiel without me. We would walk past my car anyway! So I peeled off. Does that mean I was now doing to myself what I had been grumpy about Dei doing to me? You could argue it is. Women don't explain the results to you. But it felt different as the decision was mine. It is not the same if I am just not deemed important enough to even know where we are meeting!

Altogether I left in good spirits. And that's the important bit. The day started shit, but luckily some stunning geology in the sun with nice people sorted it out. As it should!

Not a birthday on Parys Mountain

It's great to have some friends to celebrate the standard milestones of life with. But this year Susan and Dean were busy in december, so weren’t around for my birthday, or the adjacent weekends. They suggested we do something the weekend before that. And I'm okay with that! And we had made a plan; we would either go underground, as they had become curious about what that's like. Or go to Parys Mountain, as they also were a bit curious about that. They know I take students there. And we would let the weather decide. If it was going to be raining, we would go underground! And it wouldn't be raining.

Martin drove us there. We had packed for a picnic. But it was very cold! Not that that was unexpected. We did the normal trip and I told them what I normally tell the students. And I think that quite soon we were starting to wonder where we could shelter from the wind and have our picnic. The most obvious option is the windmill, but that is traditionally the last thing you see. We also checked out two ruins, but they weren’t very sheltered. So in the end the picnic happened in the windmill after all! It was indeed quite nice and quiet in there. I had made a quiche, and Sue and Dean had brought cake. It was lovely!

Pic by Martin

After the picnic we went back. The initial plan had been to go to an Indian restaurant in the village, but it turned out that it had been closed for a while. We are clearly not very observant. So instead we went home, by the fire, drank tea, and in the end ordered some Indian takeaway. We had that by the fire as well.

By the time the others left I must admit I was knackered! I wasn't quite sure how much of that was because of the rather tiring week I had had, and how much of that was still from getting very cold on Parys Mountain. (I didn't put on my down jacket until we sat down for the picnic, but that had probably been a mistake.) But it doesn't matter. I quickly retreated to bed, and could look back on a lovely day with marvellous people!

Annual Parys Mountain trip

I think I can keep these reports of our annually recurring trips within the Geology of Anglesey module quite short now! Most things worth saying about them have been said. It was time again for the Parys Mountain trip. And, as is starting to become a tradition, it would be only Dei and me leading it. I drove up in the School 4WD, while Dei drove a minibus. I got there first. As soon as I, and the few students I had in the back, got out of the car it started to rain quite heavily. We quickly retreated back inside! Luckily it was just a shower, and it was over by the time the minibus appeared.

We then did what we usually do. I talk about the geology, and when I have said everything there is to say, Dei takes over and talks about the actual mine relics. This year we made sure not to linger too much; there was a cold wind blowing. When we sat down for lunch I put on my big down jacket, and I didn't take it off again until I was back in the vehicle! Luckily we only had small amounts of rain, and spells of glorious sunshine. I was happy with how it all went! And this was the last trip in the series of the calendar year. In spring we hope to be back with the rather delayed trip to Llanddwyn! 

Weather going both ways in the pit

Sunny view on the Central Boss in the Big Pit

View to the headgear of Morris Shaft

Trying to get a pic of the crazy lithology through my hand lens. Does not quite work but you can just see the glimmering of pyrite. 

Visiting Cemaes again; now as a geologist

The day after my archaeological walk in the Cemaes area, I was back on my way there in an coach otherwise full of ocean sciences students. I was going to do the same itinerary again, but this time I (with my two colleagues) was supposed to be the source of information. 

It started with something new! From the village beach we went west. There was an outcrop there of several rock types. I hadn't seen it before! It was an old sedimentary rock with a dyke coming through it, and a stromatolite around the corner.

The ‘new’ western outcrop

From there we went back to familiar terrain. St Patrick's Church, the Precambrian mélange to the west of it, stromatolites right by St Patrick's cave, and the view on a thrust fault within the Carmel Head Thrust Belt. 

When we had seen all that it was already time to get back to the coach! That would take us East to Porth Wen, where the firebrick work is, and the fossil pebbly beach. I think the students thought that being back on the coach meant we were done. When it stopped at a layby I saw many unimpressed faces! But they all accepted the situation and trundled after me to the drumhouse again. I spoke a bit about the industrial remains, and Jaco rounded off with his musings about the sedimentary rocks. Then we were really done! 

The drumhouse 

It had, in my mind, been a much more positive trip than last year. That year it had been awfully windy, and we had inadvertently organised things such that I had only had the very last outcrop to talk about, so by that time the students were tired and fed up. The other men had got distracted by something or other. I didn’t enjoy that at all! I had been SO aware that these students came into a School without women in high positions. That makes me really keen on making sure that I, as the only woman teaching on the module, come across as just as worthy of being listened to as the men. Because it isn’t self-evident in a School like ours. And this failed miserably. But it had lead to me speaking out to my line manager. And I’m glad I took that step…

Starting Anglesey geology in Rhoscolyn

When the new academic year starts, we tend to not wait very long until we take the first year students who are doing the Anglesey geology field course into the field. Normally we start in the Precambrian and work our way towards the present day, but that requires starting on Llanddwyn, and if the tide is against you that trip becomes problematic. And the tide was against us. So we need to start somewhere else, and we decided on Rhoscolyn. They are the rock is all Cambrian, so the next best thing.

We went on the second Monday of term, and over the weekend, I received a message from my colleague Dei, who is the module organiser, saying that he was unwell and probably couldn't make the trip. But that's okay; Jaco and I can do what he does. Within limits.

On the day I travelled up in the coach with the students, and we met Jaco by our first stop: South Stack. And we took it from there!

Jaco had actually not been back from sick leave for very long himself, but this whole trip is all about turbidites, and he built an entire blossoming career on the things. He never ceases to stop to have anything to say about that!

I did the general introduction so I would have some input. And then I let Jaco go wild on his turbidites. By the time he was done it was pretty much lunchtime!

South Stack lighthouse 

We drove to Rhoscolyn and had lunch by the church. Then we walked to the coast watch outlook post. There I said some more about the stratigraphy of the area, and Jaco mentioned Dennis Wood, who has a memorial stone there. And then we went down to the cliff to look at more turbidites. 

Impressive cliff

From that cliff face we walked to a last one. That has a big quartzite lump exposed; how did that get there? And from there we normally walk the scenic route back, past some rock arches, but it had started raining, so we decided to skip that and go back to the vehicle. I think we made the right call; I didn't stop raining for a long time after that. So we just went home! And reported back to Dei that we thought we had delivered a successful day in the field. He was glad to hear it.

Let's hope next time we can actually go to the Precambrian! Although I haven't checked the tides yet…