A big “Hello” from Claxby, Lincolnshire!
On Saturday 27th June 2021 we were absolutely delighted to hold our first field excursion since September 2019 ! …
A group of 10 led by former President Paul Hildreth, examined the Lower Cretaceous sequence exposed in the hillside above Claxby village which forms the western scarp of the Lincolnshire Wolds. These beds would have been the subject of the leader's second Presidential Address which was planned for the 26th June in Scunthorpe but unfortunately called off. It is also the site of Lincolnshire's first ironstone mine which began extracting in 1868 and closed in 1885.
After ascending a foot slope of Kimmeridge Clay (from which ammonites were recovered from loose blocks) the party visited exposures of Spilsby Sandstone (both loose and cemented varieties), the Claxby Ironstone (in which a variety of fossils was found including the distinctive large scallop Camptonectes cinctus), Tealby Limestone and the Hunstanton 'Red Chalk' Formation.
Two new exposures since May 2019 can now be added to the list of sites where the rocks can be studied and one in particular should prove to be a rich source of fossil material after a suitable period of weathering.
An interesting aside was the current YGS President, Nick Riley's excitement at being able to examine the 'Red Chalk' for the first time (see image below!). We'll have him converted to the white stuff (chalk) before long!
