The Geology of Britain News
On this page, you will find updates on the progress of the Geology of Britain project as it unfolded, which might be of interest. Please feel free to offer your feedback and general comments via the contact page.
December 2009. The book is now complete and will be published shortly. The last task was to sort through around 3000 or so photographs to produce a short list for inclusion in the final work. This was a very difficult and time consuming task. However, the final list of images was considered to be representative and pertinent to the text. It will be interesting to see it in print. Of course, such a task is never really finished and, perhaps, there might even be future revisions to keep the book up to date. We shall see.
November 2009. East Anglia explored and added to the portfolio. New sections written and previous sections edited and revised. Text almost complete, attention now turning to design and production issues, including image selection and preparation. This is going to be a very interesting book with an absolutely unique presentation and style. It will serve both as a useful introduction to the geology of Britain and as a snapshot of British geology at this particular point in time. As such, it is probably the most up to date and complete visual reference available.
August 2009. The Brecon Beacons and the Pembrokeshire coast in South Wales have now been added to the portfolio and much of the text is now complete. How ever there are still one or two sections to focus upon including the geology of East Anglia and the section on coastal erosion. There will be a great deal of work involved in choosing a subset of images for the book from the created library which now includes around 3000 high quality images from around Britain, including some wonderful examples of unusual stratification. When the book is completed, attention will be given to organising and cataloguing this image library, prior to making it available to appropriate educational institutions.
June 2009. Have now added Scotland to the portfolio with separate sections for the Lowlands and Highlands. Spectacular geology and beautiful scenery to be found almost everywhere, together with a great deal of rain... This is of course a very important area within the context of British geology and now features several internationally recognised Geo parks, with some of the oldest rocks to be found anywhere. Managed to capture some interesting images to add to the collection.
May 2009. Much of the text of the book has been completed with sections on the South Coast, Dartmoor, Northern Devon, South Wales, North Wales, The Peak District, The Yorkshire Dales and The Yorkshire Moors, as well as the Introduction and a special section on Early Settlers. Many photographic expeditions have additionally been undertaken with over 2000 high quality images already collected. The next expedition will be to Scotland, which is of course particularly interesting from a geological perspective, as well as featuring some spectacular scenery.
February 2009. Project plan revised and book sections defined accordingly, including thoughts around layout and presentation. Initial sections completed and a standard approach devised for photography, ensuring high quality images to accompany the text. The objective being to create something which is not merely informative, but beautiful in its own right and accessible to a wide range of readers. Indeed, The Geology of Britain book will undoubtedly become something quite special and unique in its field.
October 2008. Original project proposed as an extension of previous initiatives aimed at creating a broader awareness of the geosciences. These include the web resource for secondary school students which may be found at www.science.1to1.org There is also a collaborative project for schools and universities which has been temporarily shelved, but may be revisited later.