December 17th saw the annual meeting and field trip of the Microvertebrate Group
The field trip comprised a tour of Silurian age localities in the Malvern Hills area (now part of the Abberley and Malvern Hills Geopark). The group met at British Camp Hillfort on the morning of the 17th and proceeded to Gullet Quarry, well known for its Llandovery conodonts.
Once we had arrived at the quarry, a bottle of champagne was opened to celebrate Dick Aldridge’s “significant” birthday, the quarry being one of the localities from both his undergraduate mapping and his PhD. After a while talking and catching up we were then met by Dr Peter Oliver, director of the Hereford and Worcester Earth Heritage Trust who welcomed us to the geopark and gave a brief talk about the geology of the area.
A quarry exposing the Wenlock-Ludlow boundary was visited before lunch at the Prince of Wales Inn in Ledbury. After lunch the group visited Brockhill Quarry to examine the top of the Ludlow followed by a walk up British Camp hillfort as the sun was setting. We then retired to our hotel for a meal followed by some short talks on people?s current research.
Next year there will be a trip to the Peak District (details to follow) before the 50th annual meeting of the Palaeontological Association in Sheffield.