Wednesday, 11 March, 2026 starts at 19:30 - 21:00
Braithwaite Institute
Braithwaite Institute, A66, Braithwaite
Keswick
CA12 5RY
AGM papers will be made available before this event, and the business of the AGM will be concluded as swiftly as possible.
Dr David Schofield (Nuclear Waste Services) will give a talk on “Terrane Tectonics in the Appalachian-Caledonide Orogen from the perspective of Great Britain and Ireland”.
This meeting is in the Braithwaite Institute.
In advance of the AGM, members attention is drawn to the 2025 Financial report which is now available on the website in the Membership Financial Reports page.
Other papers for the AGM were included in the Spring Newsletter CGS_Spring_Newsletter_2026
Wednesday, 11 February, 2026 starts at 19:30 - 21:00
Crosthwaite Parish Rooms
Main Street
Keswick
CA12 5NN
Dr Alastair Baird (Kingston University) will give a talk on “A consideration of Acadian arcuate fold trends in north Wales and the southern Lake District”.
Alastair graduated from Bedford College London in 1975, with a 1st class Hons. degree in Geology. In 1976 he obtained an MSC with Distinction, from Imperial College in Structural geology & Rock Mechanics..
In the summer of 1976 he returned to Bedford College London to commence a PhD into the structural & metamorphic geology of the Moine rocks of the Scottish Highlands around Glenfinnan. 4 years later he became a research assistant for 3 years to Dr D Powell, working on rocks from adjacent areas.
In 1983 he began 3 years of Post Doctoral Research in Durham with Prof John Dewey into the tectonics of the Pennine Alps in Switzerland & Italy.
In 1986 he left Durham, submitted his PhD, (after completing the Post Doc research ), and started work as a lecturer in what was then Kingston Polytechnic, but subsequently became Kingston University. He lectured in Kingston for 31 years, before retiring in 2017.
From 1986 to 1996 he regularly consulted for major Oil Companies, working mostly in Tunisia, but also in the Italian Alps, the Italian Southern Apennines, the Black Sea coast of Northern Turkey (with Danny Clark-Lowes), Cuba and latterly on the potential Shale Gas deposits of the UK..
In 1996 he started consulting on the Lead – Zinc deposits of Northern Tunisia, and did so for about 12 years, working as an exploration geologist and subsequently as a Director of Maghreb Minerals Plc.
After retirement he moved to Colwyn Bay. In 2023 he resumed geological activity in north Wales, revisiting the Ogwen – Idwal area of Northern Snowdonia, where he’d previously published a short paper in 1999. Since then he’s done additional fieldwork in Snowdonia, regularly worked with ‘GeoMon’ in Anglesey and lectured to the Liverpool Geol. Soc., the North Wales Geol.Soc. and the NW Regional Group of the Geological Society.
In the next few months he will be lecturing to the u3a Llandudno Group, and then leading them on a field trip around the Idwal – Ogwen area. In the autumn he’ll be co-leading the Yorkshire Geol Soc on a 4-5 day trip to Anglesey.
Wednesday, 14 January, 2026 starts at 19:30
Crosthwaite Parish Rooms
Main Street
Keswick
CA12 5NN
Phil Davies (CGS), David Boote and Graham Yielding will give a talk on “A fresh look at the geological history of the Skiddaw Group”.
Wednesday, 10 December, 2025 starts at 19:30
Crosthwaite Parish Rooms
Main Street
Keswick
CA12 5NN
Emeritus Professor Ben Kneller (Aberdeen University) will give a talk “The Windermere Supergroup: what does it tell us about the evolution of Avalonia”
This will be followed by an opportunity to socialise for the members’ evening.
The trip will be led by Jonathan Redfern, Chair of Petroleum Geoscience at University of Manchester.
Thursday 7th May: Arrive Scarborough (Bike and Boot suggested hotel). Visit to Rotunda Museum, Wiliam Smith and other collections in afternoon (3pm)
Friday 8th May: Morning: Drive to Staithes, morning Staithes Group shallow marine sandstones – Lunch in Staithes. Â Afternoon: Â Cleveland Ironstone (HT 8.36 am LT 3.01pm)
Saturday  9th May:  Morning: Drive to Whitby, examine Whitby Sandstone on East and West Cliff.  Fish and Chips lunch in Whitby
Pm: Drive to Cloughton, Long Nab Formation, fluvial meander belts. (HT 9.28 am LT 4.02pm)
Sunday 10th May: Morning :drive to Flamborough Head. Examine Cretaceous Chalk Group. Regional tectonics and faulting. (HT 12.46)
Lunch
Depart home after lunch pm
The trip will cost £40 per individual (to cover the leader’s costs), payable on booking, plus individual accommodation costs.
We will be staying in the Bike and Boot hotel, Scarborough from Thursday night through to Saturday evening. There is a choice of room type available for the 3 nights, with prices for the 3 nights, including breakfast.
Single room £241.50
Single room with view £301.50
Double room (2 people) per room £298.20
Double room with view (2 people) per room £339.00.
It is hoped that we will all eat together in the hotel in the evenings. A copy of the menu can be found on their website. www.Bikeandboot.com
If interested please contact Lesley Wornham, CGS, on email hidden; JavaScript is required or number removed (text) by the end of November, indicating the type of room you require.
The trip will be on a first come first served basis. After the end of November, I will let you know whether you are on the trip and provide details of how to secure your place by payment of £40. I will also be able to let you know how to secure your hotel room from the rooms I am holding.
