You are welcome on any of these Free trips

18 October

"Craggy ponderous stones" and other delights

Meet at Roche Rock (just inside the roadside hedge) (Grid Ref. SW992597) at 10 a.m., finish about 1 p.m.

A slow amble from Roche Rock to Tresayes Quarry reserve, and back, across fields, tracks and stiles, following the ‘Roche Rock and Tresayes Trail’. Rocks, ruins, heathland, Saxons, balmaidens, peppercorns and more.

A guided walk by geologist John Macadam of Earthwords in the United Nations 'International Year of Planet Earth'.

Organiser: Cornwall Wildlife Trust / Cornwall RIGS Group

Meet at Pencarrow Car Park (Grid Ref. SX149513) at 1pm, finish about 3 pm (i.e. 2-3 hours)

cost: adult £2 children free

Come and discover the fascinating geology of Lantic Bay from squashed rocks, changing sea levels and sliding sea bed sludge. A guided walk by geologist John Macadam of Earthwords in the United Nations 'International Year of Planet Earth'.

A National Trust event.

An OUGS event - so unless you are an OUGS member you'll probably need to pay a small fee (maybe £1?) as a temporary member.

10.00 - 1.00 on Sunday, June 25 at Trevone, near Padstow, Cornwall (GR SW 892759).

Meet at the car park above the beach at Trevone. We'll end up at Porthmissen Bridge, a little way along the coast towards Stepper Point: you might like to bring a picnic!

Building sandcastles underwater? Come and find out about the wonders of St Erth Geological Reserve.

11.00 - 2.00 on Saturday, March 13 at St Erth Pits Reserve, St Erth, Hayle, Cornwall (GR SX558348).

Meet at the Reserve. If coming by car please park at the church, and walk up past the PO and pub, then left into Vicarage Gate and up the path on the edge of the playing field to the Reserve entrance.

There are some geological walks along the South West Coast Path to celebrate its 25th anniversary

Meet at 10.30 a.m. on Sunday, April 6 at the National Trust's Leadmines car park, near New Polzeath, on the river Camel. (Grid Reference SW941799).

Meet at 10.00 a.m. on Sunday, June 9 at Cape Cornwall car park, (SW353317), near St Just, in the far west of Cornwall.

The walk is along the coast towards Botallack and will last about 2 1/2 hours. You'll need adequate footwear - we'll be walking across a boulder beach, along the coast path and over stiles. And of course waterproofs!

In those 2 1/2 hours we'll gallop through about 380 million years (though we won't dwell on each one). I'll be focussing on the geology, rather than the mining heritage. At the end of the walk it's only about 20 minutes along the coast path back to Cape Cornwall.

The walk is free and is being run for the National Trust so please book on 01736 788588 (Botallack visitor centre) during office hours - or phone me on 01208 72578. Absolutely no prior knowledge is necessary.

This trip was originally going to be led by Nicolaas Huyg - but he'll be in the Czech Republic. He thought up the title!

Meet 2.00 p.m. on Saturday, June 15 on Charlestown beach, (SX040516), near St Austell. Finish about 4.00. If you want to come about 1.00 we can have a picnic first.

This is primarily an event for families - we'll be seeing how many different types of pebbles we can find on the beach. There was a trip in Science Week in March but the weather was terrible and only a few brave souls turned up, so this trip is a second chance, and we'll hope for nice weather.

The trip is run for Fox Club (the junior branch of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust), Watch (of the Royal Society of Nature Conservation) and Rockwatch (of the Geologists' Association). Everyone - of any age - is welcome, free.

If Square Sail, which owns the beach, needs to use it for filming we will have to meet somewhere else, so please book in advance with Trish Hoskings at the Wildlife Trust on 01872 273939, or with me, John Macadam, on 01208 72578, or by email.

If you want a copy of the leaflet about the pebbles on the beach you can download it as a 'pdf' (you'll need to get Acrobat Reader free, if you don't have it). You can also get the text of the leaflet as a Microsoft Word document in French, German or Spanish, or as a 'pdf' in French, German, or Spanish. If you do get a copy of the leaflet in advance all I would ask is that you are not too knowledgeable on the day - it could spoil the 'story' for the kids! Of course, I'll be happy to answer questions at any level (if I can!).