The Language of Stone - Part 2

A steel knife and hydrochloric acid

I started this Language of Stone Blog, not long after I had finished an account of my last visit to Spain, 2 years ago, when I participated in a trial Anglo-Hispanic Language Exchange programme - staying with a Spanish host and contributing to English language workshops in the city of Murcia.

Before this trip to Spain, I had been thinking about the possibility of teaching general English and combining it with Geotourism, following on from ideas that I had when working for the Geological Survey of Ireland and, although I had no firm ideas for excursions, a shortlist of places to visit included the region of La Unión and one of the World Heritage Sites - to see some rock art.

An unexpected bout of la gripe curtailed my plans but I managed to take a look at the ancient city port of Cartagena, where the idea of teaching technical English to geologists came to me.

Wandering around the back streets, to look at the various hills and walls, I encountered the Polytechnic of Cartagena and knowing that work for geologists, engineers, architects etc in Spain had come to an abrupt halt – having discussed this with friends in Madrid a couple of years earlier – I reasoned that they must need to learn English to explore opportunities that might exist abroad.

Following up this idea through the IGME and the ICOG  I have discovered that various attempts have been made to establish such courses online, particularly in the north of Spain. My Spanish has since improved considerably and I have developed a vocabulary list for teaching English to tour guides, based on my own experience of visiting geological sites and historic monuments.

The next step has not been an easy one to make. On a minimal budget and with my means of travel restricted to a limited range of public transport, I have come near to the end of a list of places that I can easily visit here in England - to further develop my varied practical experience.

I would like to visit another place where the concept of Geotourism is being embraced by like minded professionals who appreciate the relationships between the geology and the subsequent cultural development of their region.

Spain has been foremost in my mind, simply because I have taught English to very many students from all over mainland Spain, Las Canarias and South America too - in the classroom and via Skype – and I have briefly explored some of these places; however, I have visited Italy, Holland and Greece several times and I also have a good grasp of their Language of Stone.

Minerals & Maps

The Commercial

Having spent a year exploring some of the geology, ancient monuments and historic stone buildings in South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Derbyshire – ending with a lashing by the wind and the rain on Curbar Edge – winter is a good time to reflect on past achievements and to plan the year ahead.

After lunch

An impressive display of minerals

With constant thoughts of being in much warmer and sunnier places – Spain or Italy for example - the English weather doesn’t motivate me and so I was very pleased to continue my association with the U3A Sheffield Geology Group, when meeting up at the Commercial Inn in Chapeltown.

About 25 members turned up to learn some more about minerals and geological maps, through a short series of excellent presentations and practical demonstrations.

It has been more than 35 years since I was introduced to the Mohs hardness scale, a ceramic tile and a fingernail - to physically investigate a mineral.

Together with the discreet use of other essential geologists’ tools - a steel knife and hydrochloric acid – the group soon learned how to undertake this task.

Following lunch, the afternoon was dedicated to the discussion of a provisional itinerary for the forthcoming season of field trips and an introduction to geological maps. Armed with protractors, rulers, pencils, rubbers and scrap paper, we all learned a thing or two.

An introduction to geological maps

I turned up with my rucksack full of miscellaneous items that I know are of interest to geologists but, on this occasion, I had no need to take them out – such was the enthusiasm that so obviously pervaded this meeting.

Minerals and geological maps

Continuing Professional Development

A CPD seminar and field trip for surveyors and architects

Working as a professional, effective verbal communication is essential, as I discovered when trying to explain the often complex legislation behind various taxes on property – during my time with the Valuation Office/District Valuer.

A job well done in the restoration industry

Moving on to the building restoration industry in London, the skills that I had developed over the previous 5 years were refined in a very competitive commercial environment – firstly as a contracts manager and then as a director of Triton Building Restoration Ltd.

An illustrated talk for the Treeton Local History Group

Knocking on doors and cold calling on the phone, it was enthusiasm more than any established sales technique that Ied to a stream of enquiries and, when representing my company at various trade exhibitions, I was in my element – talking to potential clients face to face.

Education

Moving away from London, it seemed natural to lead various walks and attend rock and fossil shows - aimed at the public of all ages - as part of the promotional activities with the South Yorkshire RIGS Group. 

I would provide explanations and answer many questions about various aspects of geology and before too long - developing an interest in formal education - I was teaching geology to adults at the WEA.

In England, geological science has fallen way down the list of priorities in many schools, universities and museums but, as a steady flow of illustrated talks to various natural history, local history and conservation societies confirms, there is still a latent and very deep interest in this extremely diverse subject.

My illustrated talks essentially draw upon my experience of building restoration and geological conservation; I have always thought that these, like the publication Building in Stone, could easily be adapted for a range of aspiring or established professionals.

The terminology of the stone trade

Architects, surveyors, engineers, ecologists and town planners are just a few of the professions that have needed to take my advice - perhaps CPD seminars, combined with field trips, are just one way for other professionals like these to learn a little bit more about the Language of Stone?

A Walk Along Curbar Edge

The view south along Curbar Edge

When joining the Sheffield U3A Geology Group, I was interested to see what kind of terrain the members would be expected to willingly explore, especially since - reflecting the nature of U3A - everyone would have been a minimum of 10 years older, and probably much less mobile than me.

All prepared for the walk ahead

During my trips to the Burbage Valley, Peveril Castle and Cave Dale a few weeks earlier, I had become aware of my own physical condition and ability to negotiate steep and unstable slopes, having not done this for very many years.

In Haworth, the exploration of the Woodhouse Flags took just over 3 hours, with a distance of 4km. Although much of the walking was along paths, various diversions included a quarry face, where the weathered shale at its base was quite slippery, and there is other uneven and boggy ground.

It seemed that most of the group were much more used to this kind of activity than me and, apart from the occasional slip, were well prepared for the terrain encountered when learning more about geology - including the need to take along the necessary outdoor clothes.

The remains of a stone circle

The next trip was a walk along Curbar Edge, in November - a distance of 8km - which reminded me that waterproof trousers were essential, as we were lashed with rain on the first leg of our walk on what was already a windy day.

The principal aim of this trip was to have a close up look at some of the archaeology that is also a feature of the moorland in the Peak District National Park - various cairns, a cist, a stone circle and discarded millstones and other evidence of quarrying in the past.

There was another opportunity to explore more exposures of Chatsworth Grit - as I had surveyed at Carl Wark and Higger Tor – but the weather finally got so bad that we had to cut the day short before we had a chance to see various other places that been highlighted on the route.

The geology around Curbar Edge

Although I had visited various quarries and other exposures along the gritstone edges before, I had never taken a long walk along the top of any of them and, although disrupted by the rain, I saw enough points of interest to make me want to return again on a calm and sunny day.

Tors and various contorted beds and other sedimentary structures

The Chatsworth Grit here is typically very coarse grained, with abundant pebble beds composed mainly of vein quartz, and the large scale sedimentary structures are clearly exposed – including examples of slumping and the development of finer grained flaggy beds that I had not seen before.

Zooming in to Higger Tor and Carl Wark

Even on a very gloomy day, the large scale geological structures and geomorphology can be still seen in the skylines and the views along the edge; cloughs, stacks and large fallen blocks pass into thick deposits of head, which cover the lower slopes of this part of the Upper Derwent Valley.

Erosion of the Chatsworth Grit at Curbar Edge

On the return journey, the path had turned into a series of small streams that were cutting into the sandy surface and, in places, these cascaded over the edge. By the time we all got back to the starting point, everyone seemed to be as wet as me and, although the sun then started to shine, we all decided that we had experienced enough of the English weather for one day.

A glimpse of sunshine at the end of a very wet and windy day