The local geologist 6: The fossil trade

What do you do if a professional collector starts fossicking in your favourite quarry? Call the police? English Nature? The local museum? Or perhaps nip round with the cheque book to get that crinoid you always wanted for the study wall? The correct answer could be any or all of these; professional fossil collecting is an activity with very real costs which are often outweighed by the benefits. It depends who's collecting what, where and when.     

The local geologist 14: Museums, geology and the National Curriculum

Museums may not be the first place that people think of in connection with a scientific specialism such as geology. They are more frequently associated with the study of history: the Victorians, the Romans, Ancient Egypt. This popular misconception is not, however, based on fact; the Doughty Report of the early 1980s showed that there are around 300 museums in Britain with geology collections just waiting to be used.     

The local geologist 13: A beginner's guide to the field study of sedimentary rocks

Geology is primarily afield study, and no matter what information is collected from detailed study of hand specimens and thin sections in the laboratory, this must be related to the outcrops in order to develop a geological interpretation of a sequence of rocks. Here we focus on the type of information that should be collected when studying sedimentary rocks in the field, and highlight the main techniques employed.     

Doing space relationally: Exploring the meaningful geographies of local government in Wales

Recent years have seen significant advancements in the theorising of relational space through conceptual frameworks which recognise the polymorphic organisation of sociospatial relations (e.g. Territory, Place, Scale and Network). Less understood, however, are the methodological challenges inherent in ‘thinking space relationally’. In particular, how can such conceptual vocabularies be sustained through the contingent practices of doing research? In this article, we address these concerns empirically through an analysis of the sociospatial responsibilities of local government actors across Wales, as new modes of spatial planning require them to think and act across administrative boundaries and policy areas. We introduce the notion of ‘patch’ as a means for eliciting conceptually open and grounded accounts of relational space as situated within personal/professional interests, cultures and ideologies. We identify different ways in which patch is relationally located, and how understandings of its boundaries and coherences relate to public policy remits. Yet while invoking different kinds of material and imagined spatiality, patch remains largely defined by the responsibilities and resources tied to local government boundaries. Institutional configurations continue to inform the way different spaces are discursively organised and practised. We conclude by reflecting on the need for accounts of relational space to be open to its everyday material groundings in relations of fixity and flow. Gesturing towards recent studies which display complementary concerns, we consider where attentiveness to patch and other ‘meaningful’ spatial frames has the potential to develop geographical analyses in new directions.     

The geologist down your street: three famous geologists from a small town in Lancashire,England

The town of Colne in Pennine east Lancashire, northern England—once a centre of the textiles trade—is now best known locally as the home of Boundary Mill ‘shopping experience’. But there is more to the town than meets the eye, including three significant geologists.