WGCG Field Trip to South Shropshire – Led by Dr Martin

This field trip follows on from the WGCG weekend field trip led by Martin Whiteley to the north part of Shropshire in June 2025, when we looked at Precambrian to Silurian rocks. It is not needful for you to have attended last year’s trip in order to come on this trip, which will visit late Silurian to Triassic rocks between Ludlow and Bridgnorth.

Furthermore, WGCG will extend its lecture season to May this year, so that Martin can give a talk on the geology of Shropshire. This will be presented on Zoom at 7.30pm on Thursday 14th May and will be open to all WGCG members and friends. It will cover the geology of both the 2025 and 2026 field trips and therefore also serve as the introductory talk for the 2026 outing.

Duration
Formal leadership will commence at 3pm on Friday afternoon with a building stones walk around Ludlow. Activities will draw to a close mid-afternoon Sunday to allow good time for homeward travel.

Accommodation
Participants are asked to book their own accommodation for this trip. Ludlow is the obvious and most convenient base for the Friday and Saturday nights, although anywhere in the Ludlow – Kidderminster – Bridgnorth triangle would also suffice. Martin Whiteley, the group leader, will be based in Ludlow.

Meals
Participants should arrange their own meals, including a packed lunch for each day, except for Saturday evening. A group dinner on the Saturday evening will be organised, but no venue has yet been selected, although it is likely to be in or near to Ludlow. Participants will pay for this on the day. It is possible that the group could also informally eat together on the Friday evening in Ludlow, after a building stones walk in the afternoon.

Travel Arrangements
Travel to and from Shropshire is members’ own responsibility, but if you want to lift share on this journey, please indicate that on the registration form and we will see if we can match you up with other participants for travel. The form seeks your permission to share your contact details with the other trip participants so that lift sharing, and possibly the sharing of accommodation, can be discussed easily. Travel to the start point on the Saturday and Sunday is members’ own responsibility, but on each day car sharing will be encouraged to simplify travel and because of limited parking spaces in the locations to be visited.

Registration and Cost
There will be an upper limit of 15 participants. A minimum number of 8 participants will be required to make this trip viable. There will be a charge of £40 per person to cover the leader’s fee and expenses.

Clothing and equipment
Normal field gear is required, including provision for wet weather. There is no need to carry a helmet or high-vis jacket, but a walking pole may well be useful for the steeper ground. A small hammer with a sharp chisel head, a stout penknife and a x10 hand lens come in handy if you like looking for fossils in loose blocks of rock.

Safety
Outdoor activities will be subject to all the usual care and precautions expected in the field as dictated by the terrain
and weather conditions, with suitable clothing and sturdy footwear being required and participants expected to take
care.
The terrain we are likely to encounter includes going over fields, uneven and rough ground in places, and steep
ground in a few places. As with most ‘field activity’, people with mobility issues will need to be prepared to exempt
themselves from parts of the itinerary as suggested in the itinerary outline above.
Each person attending should be acquainted with the WGCG’s guidance on field activity (Item 7 on the WGCG
website at https://www.wgcg.co.uk/safety-documents/.

Insurance
Membership of WGCG (or a partner group such as LLPS or BCGS) is a requirement for insurance purposes (please
ensure you are a fully paid-up member, separately from this registration process). You are advised to have suitable
travel insurance to protect against any losses that may arise from cancellation or loss of personal belongings.

Itinerary
Meeting locations and a field guide will be forwarded to participants a week before the trip. The field guide will be in
the form of a PDF that can either be printed off, or taken into the field on your phone.

Friday 12th June – informal walk around Ludlow, looking at building stones, starting at 3pm (for those who can get
to the area early). No pre-field trip briefing will take place in the evening because Martin will be introducing the
geology of Shropshire to us on Thursday 14th May.
Possible communal evening meal in Ludlow.

Saturday 13th June – field trip to look at late Silurian, Devonian and Carboniferous successions around Ludlow and
Titterstone Clee.
Packed lunch required.
Formal group evening meal, likely to be in or near to Ludlow.

Sunday 14th June – field trip to look at Permian and Triassic red beds around Bridgnorth, possibly picking up one or
two Carboniferous localities around Clee Hill beforehand if we didn’t squeeze them in on Saturday.
Packed lunch required.
Depart for home from Bridgnorth mid-afternoon.

Registration
To register for this field trip please send a completed registration form to [email protected] by the registration deadline of
Friday 1st May

Registration Form

To view the field trip flyer please click here