Watchet

I was out today with the U3A geology group on a field trip to Watchet in Somerset.  What an interesting day.  It started with a discussion with Eric Robinson a retired geologist who lives in this area who explained that there is a very long fault line that passes along West Street all the way to Swansea.  There have been volcanic eruptions along the fault in the past unto a scale of 5 and therefore of some concern.  The rocks in this area include those in the Lower Jurasic (Rhaetian) and Triassic.  We came across gypsum deposits within the Triassic rocks, see extra.  This mineral was used for carving into objects as it is relatively soft and also known as alabaster.  After lunch we wandered to the east where we scrambled over rocks on the beach to view some very large ammonite fossils visible at low tide.  The town itself was a busy port 100 years ago with an old mineral railway that transported iron ore from the Brendon Hill mines to South Wales. The street mural depicts the past activities in this town.