President’s Word, November 2020
Since my election to the presidency at the Annual General Meeting held at Weetwod Hall, Leeds, on 5th December 2018, the world has become a very different place and all of our lives have been changed in ways we could never have imagined only a couple of years ago. It has been a roller coaster term of office both personally and for the Yorkshire Geological Society. Council has sailed into uncharted waters with a crew more used to Hornsea Mere than the open ocean. This said, I must congratulate Council on its willingness to pull together and cooperate in using new methods, not only to communicate its business, but also provide YGS members with opportunities to partake in talks and field meetings.
At the risk of repeating myself, I can share with you an ambition that I set myself in about 1967 as an undergraduate attending my first GA lecture in Burlington House, London. Having listened to the eloquent speakers that day I resolved to summon up the courage to present a lecture, not to the GA, but to my ‘home’ society the YGS. I had to wait until 2008 to do so when as Council’s ‘champion’ for a Hull meeting, one of the scheduled speakers dropped out at a late stage and I stepped into the breach with a talk on ‘Chalkoholism’. It is this Society, the one that remains special, that has allowed me to reach heights I never could never have imagined on that evening in Piccadilly. Thank you to all concerned and particularly those members who have supported and encouraged me during my terms as both General Secretary and as President.
Two members of Council are retiring at the AGM in December. I would like to express my gratitude to both Dr. Stewart Molyneux and Dr. Andy Howard for their many years of service. Stewart has been associated with the Principal Editor’s role for a total of 17 years, four in partnership with Doug Holliday (2003 - 2006) and, since 2018, in an acting capacity. This equals that of J.W. Davis (1877 - 1893), a major figure in the early days of the society, whose stint though was unbroken and solus, and of another of the outstanding figures in YGS history, H.E. Wroot (1918 - 1934). Stewart leaves his successor, Professor Paul Wignall, with a healthy list of submissions to PYGS, a stunningly attractive publication thanks to his skilled liaison with the Geological Society Publishing House (GSPH).
Andy was awarded a ‘virtual medal’ by one society member when he volunteered to serve as General Secretary immediately after his term as President. His dedication to the YGS cause has been outstanding, leading several initiatives such as the Research Fund and Student Grant Award, championing many indoor meetings and leading outdoor field meetings. His determination to provide a programme of some sort for members during the present restrictions sparked the YGS involvement in virtual field trips, on-line lectures and mini field trips. His support and accessibility during this presidency has been greatly appreciated.
My final contribution as President, the second Presidential Address, will not take place at the ‘normal’ event, i.e. the December AGM. Instead, the plan is to hold a specially-themed meeting in late June 2021 when I hope to invite guest speakers to present on topics related to that of my own address, the early Cretaceous of Lincolnshire. Included in this I hope to have some exciting and potentially important results of ‘frantic’ work being carried out at Middlegate Quarry, South Ferriby. The site, formerly supplying clay and chalk for cement-making, is being abandoned and pumping of water ceased in late October following the removal of all the clay benches and smoothing out the Jurassic clay surface to an approximate 1:4 gradient throughout the quarry. It is estimated that the ingress of water will flood the quarry to about 35m OD submerging all of the Jurassic clay and Lower Cretaceous Carstone sections. Recent months have seen Dr. Michael Oates painstakingly logging and collecting from the Jurassic clays before they are lost.
Middlegate was designated SSSI status for its geology in 1987. Its significance includes:
• the only continuous Oxfordian/Kimmeridgian boundary section in England
• the only “permanent” exposure of Ampthill Clay (Oxfordian) in England
• the most complete basal Kimmeridgian Baylei Zone in Britain
• mixed Boreal and sub-Boreal Jurassic ammonite faunas
• the best exposure of Hunstanton Formation (Red Chalk) in typical East Midlands facies
• the type locality for the Ferriby Formation (Cenomanian, Grey Chalk)
The only good news, apart from the fact that the whole of the Chalk succession will still be accessible, is that Mike Oates and I have built a good relationship with the quarry operators, relevant Cemex staff and the landowner (Scawby and South Ferriby Estates) who are prepared to cooperate in preserving selected exposures, in particular the Albian – Cenomanian boundary, and are considering the ‘donation’ of a brick building for conversion to an education-cum-information centre. With luck and determination it is hoped that visits to the quarry can be re-established in the near future.
It has been an honour and a privilege to serve as your President despite almost half of my tenure being ‘virtual’. I have become newly acquainted with several members and better-acquainted with several more. I wish my successor, Dr. Nick Riley MBE, well and trust that he will eventually lead us back to normality and a new era where we can all enjoy the benefits of both face-to-face and virtual meetings.
Paul Hildreth,
President