Field Meeting in Sheppey 11 July 1954
Report by the Directors: A. G. DAVIS and G. F. ELLIOTT with a
Note on the varying condition of the Sheppey Cliffs and Foreshore by G. F. ELLIOTT Received 16 July 1954
and friends assembled at Charing Cross and proceeded to Sheppey by motor-coach. A route-diversion afforded an unexpected sight of various road-side sections and scenery in the Doddington-Newnham Valley. Three joined the party in Sheppey, where lunch was taken on Warden Cliff, after which one of the directors (G.F.E.) gave a brief account of the geology, and history ofpalaeontological investigation, ofthe London Clay on the island. Descending to the beach, the party welcomed two enterprising members who had travelled by motor-launch from the opposite Essex coast and landed at Warden by dinghy. After collecting here, the party proceeded westwards, examining cliffs and foreshore. At Barrow Brook the anomalous bedding noted on a previous excursion (June 1951) was demonstrated; from the orientation of septaria, and other indications, the bedding was seen to be vertical in the cliff and foreshore, and Mr. D. Curry traced this feature some distance inland, along the ravine occupied by the Brook. The clay at this point is the undisturbed division b of Davis (Proc. Geol. Assoc., 47, 330), and it is possible that this bedding initiated the drainage now represented by the little Barrow Brook. When further collecting had been carried out, westwards, the party ascended the ravine at Barrow Brook and returned by the cliff-path to Warden, where tea was taken in the garden of the Post Office. A group of specimens representative of the fossil flora and fauna was obtained by the party, including some choice fruits, a fine sprig of a conifer, and the cephalopod Belosepia. Minerals found included a good specimen of chalcopyrite. A vote of thanks to the Directors, and to the Excursion Secretary, Miss H. Wilkinson, was proposed by Mr. D. Curry, after which the main party returned to London. TWENTY MEMBERS
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