Sunday 11 October (Field Meeting): Smestow Valley and Erratics at Wightwick Manor and the Mount Hotel. Led by Andy Harrison and Julie Schroder. (This trip will be an approximate re-run of the BCGS field trip which took place on 14 February. Organised primarily for the Warwickshire Geological Conservation Group, this trip is now a BCGS/WGCG joint event.) Meet at Smestow Valley Local Nature Reserve, Meadow View Terrace, Wolverhampton WV6 8NX (Grid ref: SO 891 999), 10.30. In the morning we will walk around Smestow Valley, examining its geology in the context of the local landscape. Wear suitable outdoor clothing for the weather conditions. Finish this session around 12.30. Either bring a packed lunch or you can purchase lunch locally.

The afternoon session starts at 1.30 in the car park at Wightwick Manor, Wightwick Bank, Wolverhampton, WV6 8EE, Grid Ref: SO 868982. (NB: The post code is misleading: the grid ref. shows the car entrance from the Bridgnorth Road, A454.) Meet by the ticket office in the car park where we will be admitted (without charge) as a group. Please be there on time! We will visit the recently cleaned array of glacial erratic boulders, and other glacial erratics around the property, and learn something of their geological and social history. Drive on to the Mount Hotel, Mount Rd, Tettenhall Wood, Wolverhampton WV6 8HL. Grid ref: SO 874989. Meet in the hotel car park at 2.45 – 3.00 (depending on exit time from Wightwick Manor). Here we have permission from the hotel to visit the erratics from Charles Benjamin Mander's late 19th century 'bouldery'. We will examine their varied geology and learn about their connection with the Wightwick Manor erratics. Finish 3.30 – 4.00. NB. If we are unable to visit the Mount due to a private function, there will be an erratic-themed alternative.
Click here for a Google map for Smestow Valley LNR.
Click here for a Google map for Wightwick Manor.
Click here for a Google map for The Mount Hotel.