BSRG PG Fieldtrip: East Barnaby, Yorkshire (2002)

The first BSRG Postgrad weekend was held last weekend in Yorkshire. It was attended by 28 people from 11 different institutions and despite the weather a fine weekend was had by all. Most people arrived Friday night, some by car and most by train. Those who arrived by train were ferried from the station to the excellent accommodation at East Barnaby.

A hearty supper was followed a trip to the pub which ended significantly later than the 11pm that the local magistrate might have preferred. I was really pleased with how quickly people started chatting outside their own groups - the ice breaking part of the weekend was defiantly going well.

Saturday morning and the weather was grim, however our intrepid crew headed to the ouctrops at Staithes led by Stuart Jones. There was good discussion about the origin of the sediments and a fossil hunt. Despite the weather spirits were high and everyone got stuck in to the task in hand.

Mid afternoon, we headed back to the field centre and during the next couple of hours all the postgrads made brief presentations about their research areas. The standard of talks was very high and it was great to find out what was going on in the UK. We had talks on everything from flow structures in ignimbrites to the more conventional sedimentology type things. I was amazed to find out how many people were working on dryland river related issues.

Saturday night saw a return to the pub followed by a party at the centre which included a rather bizaar version of twister, I think I will leave that there...

Sunday, a rather gentle morning was spent in the field at Whitby followed by a quick wander around the shops. The weekend ended with a lunch at the centre. There was lots of "see you in Norwich" as we all headed home.

All in all the purpose of the meeting was to provide an opportunity for people to get together, socialise and discuss their research. This was defiantly achieved in the true spirit of BSRG (well lubricated) and the weekend was a major success. Everyone went away with a much better idea of what was going on in British Sedimentology and a better feel for what BSRG is about.

Thanks to Phil Hall - who organised it all, Stuart Jones - who led the field component, and BP who generously subsidised the weekend. We will do it all again next year.

Cheers,

John Howell

Photos Courtesy of Lisa Buckley