Geology
Status: Active - Open to new members
We meet on the 3rd Friday from 10.00-12.00.
Venue: Malvern Cube Community Centre - WR14 2YH - Click here for further details
Meetings in the Cube only take place in the winter months - October to May. During the warmer months, we organise outdoor visits to areas of interest in Malvern and surrounding areas. We encourage the study of geology especially in the Malvern area and in adjacent counties. This includes looking at the interaction between geology and landscapes and related topics such as the stones used in our buildings and monuments. We aim to learn more about the subject by organising lectures/talks by visiting speakers, visiting areas of interest both locally and further afield, encouraging study and research in small groups, providing a library of geology maps, leaflets and books and arranging residential field trips in the UK and overseas. In addition, we provide a series of introductory talks in the early autumn for newcomers to the subject. We have a comprehensive website that gives details of our previous activities. Visitors are always welcome to group meetings.
MAIN GROUP - Indoor Lecture Programme (October 2026 - April 2027)
16 October 2026 Chalk seas environment talk: Prof Charles Underwood (Birkbeck)
20 November 2026 Roadworks on the A449 talk: Miles Bevan (Jacobs)
18 December 2026 Meteorites talk: Prof Hilary Downes (Birkbeck
15 January 2027 Volcanic Tsunami hazards talk: Prof Seb Watts (University of Birmingham)
19 February 2027 The origin of the Earth's Continental Crust talk: Prof Hugh Rollinson
19 March 2027 The use of AI in geoscience talk: Paul Cleverley
16 April 2027 Geothermal energy talk: Prof Gioia Falcone Glasgow)
See our Geology Website for further details of the group’s past activities.
FOSSIL SUB GROUP - Indoor Lecture Programme (October 2026 - April 2027)
We currently have around 20 members with an average of 12 attending our indoor meetings at the Cube Community Centre. The subgroup has a mixed level of expertise from those who have been studying fossils for some time to beginners who have no scientific background. Our aim is to expand our knowledge and understanding of the world of fossils, using what expertise we have available within the group or from outside contributors. We plan to run 2 field trips a year. New members are always welcome whatever their level of expertise.
For more information, please contact Christopher Wright: Mobile: 07732 571973 email: cnw48@outlook.com
2026-27 U3A Geology Fossil Sub-Group - Programme of Indoor Meetings 2026-27
4 indoor meetings have been booked in the Orange room at the Cube. Arrive from 9.45am for 10am prompt start until 12 noon. There will be no meeting in October or December. £2 per meeting plus any visiting speaker fees.
Wednesday 25 November - Mark Baggott talk: Mammoths of the Cotswolds.
The story of a tiny corner of the Cerney Wick Hills Group sand and gravel quarry over the period 2016-2025; the magical fossil finds over that period and the people that came together to make it happen.
Wednesday 27 January 2027 - Alan Gray talk: Dinosaurs
Wednesday 24 February - Dave Green talk: Fossils and geology of the Woolhope Dome area, Herefordshire. (There will be a visiting speaker fee).
Dave will lead a follow up field trip to Woolhope Dome in July/August 2027 - date tbc
Wednesday 24 March – Jacob Quinn - Zoom talk hosted at the Cube: Vertebrates from British Rhaetian, new search results
Extract: Pachystropheus rhaeticus is a marine reptile whose remains are well known in the British Rhaetic bone bed of the Somerset coast and river Severn locations such as Garden Cliff near Westbury on Severn. New research undertaken by Jacob as part of his PhD with University of Bristol reveals that many of these bones may have been misidentified and his talk will share the results of his research.
There will also be a follow up field trip to the Triassic of Westbury on Severn Garden Cliff, tides permitting and date tbc in the spring or summer.
If time permits, for the remainder of the meeting we plan to run a YouTube talk either on the subject of Heteromorphs, the most bizarre ammonites or possibly an Introduction to Bryozoans with Dr Joe Botting.
Other potential field trips:
Saturday 10 or 17 October: Whitman’s Hill quarry, Storridge led by Mark Baggott. Silurian Wenlock exposures. £5 per car parking fee at Storridge village hall or £2 per person. 10am-1pm. Date tbc.
Weekday tbc – A visit to Nigel Larkin’s large fossil specimen preparation workshop near Shrewsbury with possible local quarry visit afterwards.
Late April/May 2027 tbc – Field trip to the early Jurassic of Blockley quarry with Mark Baggott and Alan Banyard.