Friday 3 September 2021

Ulley Brook and an Estwing Hammer

 
A good addition to my geological toolkit

In week 49 of the COVID-19 Pandemic, in the middle of February 2021, there were no signs of life returning back to normal anytime soon and I began to think of how I would continue my exploration of the geology and historic buildings in and around South Yorkshire during the year ahead.
 
The bridge in Ulley Country Park

It was only after I had walked around Ulley Country Park with a friend who I hadn’t seen for a couple of years, that I had another idea. I had only expected to walk around the reservoir, to look at the various artwork that is permanently on display, as my friend Andy teaches Art at Brinsworth Academy and we have worked on a few projects together.
 
A walk around Ulley Country Park

That didn’t take long, so we decided to follow the path that runs through the valley to open countryside to the east – approximately following the course of Ulley Brook, which flows through it. Although we both had boots to cope with the muddy paths, we didn’t have a map – except on our phones – and we just made our way along paths that we could identify from the position of other walkers and ended up in Upper Whiston and Guilthwaite.
 
A view towards Penny Hill Wind Farm

Except when looking at the escarpment upon which the Penny Hill Wind Farm has been placed, which is formed by Pennine Upper Coal Measures Formation strata that is capped by the Ackworth Rock, the subject of geology didn’t come up in our long conversation.
 
During previous walks, in a few places, I wanted to be able to get down onto the streambed and collect a sample; however, apart from not having a hammer, I am not as agile as I used to be and I probably would have needed someone to help me get back out.
 
A streambed in Bowden Housteads Wood

On this occasion, we didn’t see any rocks, but our ‘promises’ to meet up again very soon – for a longer planned walk - prompted me to buy a new geological hammer, to replace the various hammers and chisels that I had previously used to obtain my specimens of rock.
 
Old hammers

Having worked as a builder’s labourer for a year before starting university, I was familiar with a club hammer, chisels and a bolster and thought that these would be good tools; however, I soon learned that they didn’t make much of a mark on the granite in Devon and Cornwall - with the shaft of the hammer being more liable to break than the rock that I was hitting.
 
A 40 oz pick ended hammer by Burgon & Ball of Sheffield

I also have a 40 oz. pick ended hammer, with an 8½ inch wedged hickory shaft and made by Burgon & Ball of Sheffield, which I must have ‘inherited’ from an old girlfriend. It is sturdy enough, but it is best used for breaking large rocks at home and not for reaching into nooks and crannies.
 
An Estwing 20 oz brick hammer and holster

The traditional ‘geologist’s hammer’ is probably the Estwing 'Big Blue' 22 oz Rock Chisel with a 13” handle, but travelling primarily by bus and train – where a shorter and lighter hammer would be more comfortable when using a holster on my belt, I finally chose an Estwing 20 oz Brick Hammer.
 
Before purchasing it, I discussed its merits with Greg Wessel - a geologist colleague who lives on Vashon Island and owns one of my Glowing Edges Designs – and I was advised that this would be best used with sedimentary, rather than harder metamorphic or granitic rocks.
 
An exposure of coal in Smelter Wood

Having come back from walks with pieces of rock that I had obtained by smashing one loose rock against another, pulling a piece out of a bank with my fingers or digging with my Rodgers of Sheffield stainless steel knife - in the case of the coal in Smelter Wood – this would be ideal for my further exploration of the geology of South Yorkshire and the surrounding counties.

Ready for the next field trip

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