January 14, 2023

Embrace the grey fear

Wild winter walks on the north-east coast of England? Absolutely! I parked at the western end of Redcar beach. Majuba, it was windy! Coatham’s sand dunes were frantically migrating south. The offshore wind turbines looked certain to take off. Those small-dog-walkers who’d foolishly unleashed their hounds watched them saltate off to Saltburn. The sun was shining, though, and perhaps all...

Categories #StratumYoung/Outreach/Teaching

January 1, 2023

My ’22 Top Ten – 11. Crocodile Rock

“Is it a skull?” we asked, disbelievingly. “A crocodile, perhaps?”

Categories Outreach/Research

December 30, 2022

My ’22 Top Ten – 1. Quicksand

Number one in my Top Ten of 2022 is the first thing of note I did in the year, but Emma Gibson’s Quicksand is also number 1 because it was my favourite project of the year. It marked the first time I was employed as a museum consultant, the first time I worked with a professional artist, and the first...

Categories Media/Outreach/Teaching

December 29, 2022

My ’22 Top Ten – 2. Lost Beasts of the North

On Sunday March 13th 2022, as part of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society and Yorkshire Geological Society symposium ‘Lost Beasts of the North’, supported by the Curry Fund of the Geologists’ Association, and celebrating the bicentenary of the discovery of Kirkdale Cave, I took to the lectern in St Gregory’s Minster and pretended to be William Buckland: “Account of an assemblage...

Categories Outreach

December 28, 2022

My ’22 Top Ten – 3. Earth Club

“Pupils are happy and well cared for. They attend a range of different activities, such as girls’ football, yoga and the Earth club.”

Categories #StratumYoung/Outreach/Teaching

December 27, 2022

My ’22 Top Ten – 4. Meandering down Micklegate

Since starting up York’s Hidden History with the most excellent Dr Simon Rogerson (buy his books here!), I have become a bit obsessed with the ancient, natural and scientific history of Micklegate. York’s Great Street has all manner of fascinating tales to tell, and when we were asked if we might offer a Visit York Members event, I suggested a...

Categories Outreach

December 26, 2022

My ’22 Top Ten – 5. Streetlife

In June, the University of York launched the Streetlife project, turning the former Dorothy Perkins store on Coney Street into a space celebrating creatively the street’s history, heritage, and future. Via our York’s Hidden History walks (especially the York Earth Walk), I was asked if I could help people uncover the deep time stories of Coney Street, beginning during the...

Categories Outreach

December 26, 2022

My ’22 Top Ten – 6. The Family Tree

In July, I went to Clayton St John Primary School in Bradford, to run a Yorkshire Fossils class. This was part of my Stratum Young project, supported by the Geoscience Communications Fund of the Yorkshire Geological Society, and it was lovely to go in and work with the children to discuss, describe and draw the fossils they can find in...

Categories #StratumYoung/Outreach/Teaching

December 24, 2022

My ’22 Top Ten – 7. Creatures of Curiosity

I don’t really need to re-write the post I put up in August, but one of my highlights of the summer was being palaeontological consultant and fossil roadshow host for Rosie Barrett‘s Creatures of Curiosity exhibition at Nunnington Hall. Rosie tells me that more than 20,500 people visited the exhibition. I made a video, which is rubbish, but gives you...

Categories Outreach

December 23, 2022

My ’22 Top Ten – 8. Yorkshire Fossil Festival

At some point I should probably write a proper blogpost about how marvellous the 2022 Yorkshire Fossil Festival, which I organized in Scarborough over the weekend of September 16th to 18th, was. Now is not that point. Instead, I will refer you to the image above; the fact that we won an award for excellence in geological education from the...

Categories Outreach