CGS members are welcome to attend these trips – please contact the organisers using the links provided.
WGS Field trip  Tuesday 19 May         Shap Beck Limestone Quarry
Leader Chris Arkwright
On the A6 North of Shap village. The rock quarried is from the Great Scar Limestone Group which includes high quality white limestone, used to produce a flux for steelmaking, and standard pink limestone used as a general aggregate and roadstone both locally and regionally.
We shall assemble in the training building for a talk about the site history, current operation and safety. Then drive past some of the processing plant to a lookout point for an overview of the quarry. Here, the layers of different types of limestone can be clearly seen and we shall discuss the reasons for their different colours. Then be driven to a safe area in the quarry where we can hunt for fossils and examples of other limestone features. Things to look for include coral and brachiopod fossils; gypsum pseudomorphs and/or stylolites.
This is a working quarry and we are required to wear boots, hard hat, visi-vest.
Further details and booking/registration now available on WGS Website. Grade G.
CGS members are welcome to join the following upcoming OUGS field trips in Cumbria
Saturday 20 June The Carboniferous Limestones of Fell End Clouds
Leader: Richard Langthorp
To examine the sedimentology, fossils and structures of the Carboniferous limestones which form the Fell End Clouds. First, a look at the limestones in Fell End Quarry before walking up to the summit of Stennerskeugh Clouds then along the ridge to Fell End Clouds noting karst features and mineralisation seen along the way. In the afternoon visiting a biostrome in the Great Scar Limestone at Mazon Watch.
A walk of about 7 kms (4.5mls) and 240m (800ft) ascent over an upland limestone area. The weather can be very wet and windy and there are some steep, rocky footpaths which are very slippery when wet. In the afternoon there will be a 20 minute drive to Mazon Watch with a walk of 3.2 kms (2 mls) and 90m (300ft) also over an upland limestone area.
Park off-road adjacent to the disused Fell End Quarry NY734 006.
Public toilets are available in Kirkby Stephen.
Why not make a weekend of it and book also for the Kendal Fell trip on Sunday 21 June.
Sunday 21 June 2026    Kendal Fell       Â
Leader Richard Wrigley
The excursion is based around Itinerary 9 in GA Guide No 77 : Cumbria, Westmorland and Furness, vol 2, pp 147—162. Discounted copies will be available on the day.
To examine the local geology of Kendal, particularly how the tectonics and glaciation have influenced the landscape we see here today. We will then focus on several limestone formations found on Kendal Fell to the west of the town centre to compare the lithologies, fossil content and paleo-environments.
A walk of approximately 8 kms on good public footpaths and pavements with 100 m ascent/descent.
The excursion starts at Kendal Castle and finishes at Kendal Town Hall.
There are pay-and-display carparks and toilets at several locations around Kendal town centre.
To book for either or both OUGS trips, contact ChrisArkwright email hidden; JavaScript is required
See more details of all OUGS events on the OUGS Events pages All OUGS Events