Fieldtrips

There will be two fieldtrips on Saturday 24th September

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A Geologists’ Graveyard

Join a field trip to the London Necropolis and National Mausoleum Cemetery at Brookwood, Surrey. Discover the history of the largest cemetery in Britain (and possibly Europe) and travel the route of the London Necropolis Railway which carried the coffins and funeral parties to the cemetery. Meet the famous natural historians, geologists and palaeontologists that are buried here, or have connections to the cemetery. 

The trip will leave Waterloo station at about 10.30 and takes 40 minutes to Brookwood. The walk will be about 1.5 hours and will finish with tea and biscuits. The terrain is flat and mostly paths. Off peak return from Waterloo is £18.40 and the tour will cost £6 (including tea), payable to Alison on the day.

The tour will be led by Alison Longbottom (Natural History Museum).

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The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

Between 1853 and 1855, sculptor Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins constructed 30 palaeontological sculptures of extinct animals and five geological displays in Crystal Palace park. The sculptures represented the cutting-edge of palaeontological science at the time, and were set in a landscape designed by Joseph Paxton. Today, they remain largely the same as when they were first constructed, and provide a fascinating insight into how our understanding of extinct animals has changed in the intervening 170 years.

The tour will be led by the Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, a charitable organisation whose purpose is to promote the long-term conservation of the statues.

Trains run from London Victoria direct to Crystal Palace and cost around £8.50 return. Timings for the trip will be confirmed at the conference.