Residents learn about geology of village at workshop

MORE than 30 people learnt about the geology of Wargrave at a workshop in the village.

The geolab day, which was run by Reading Geological Society and the Geological Association, took place at the St Mary’s Church Centre.

Visitors were given a talk on the history and structure of geology in Britain before taking part in experiments including casting their own fossils and filtering water through different types of rock. In the afternoon they visited the Wargrave chalk pit, off Braybrooke Road, to examine some of the chalk and flint rock formations and fossils and discuss how they were formed.

The event was the first booked session to be held at the new centre off Station Road.

It was fully booked with the maximum of 32 people, including five children, so that others had to be turned away.

William Nield, 13, said: “My mum studied geology and she booked this. I’ve really enjoyed it. I liked the bit where we had to sort the rocks into different types. I learnt quite a lot about igneous rocks.”

His sister Alice, 11, said: “I liked all the activities and the fact you get to be hands-on instead of just listening to a lecture.” Alison Barraclough, from the society, said: “The idea was to give people who don’t know very much geology a basic introduction.

“It was brilliant and we’ve had some really good feedback. One person said they thought everything would be too technical but we had made it all understandable.

“We want to branch out to other areas but would like to come back to Wargrave.”