Science
and Natural History Group Meetings are held on the
1st Monday of each month in the Scout Hall at the corner of
Jubilee Way & Sandy Lane, Caldicot 10am to 12 noon
No meetings at the hall in the summer months when
outside trips are arranged
(No meeting in August)
Visit to Willows and Wetlands in Somerset
Also a visit to Glastonbury the same day by the same group July 2010*please click the image below to access a photo slideshow of the visit to
Willows and Wetlands in Somerset
Photographs at the Willows were taken by Rosa Morgan, Bill Thomas and Ron Lapthorn.
The Centre is owned and run by the Coate family, who have been growing willow on the Somerset Levels since 1819. Visitors will find a warm welcome and are invited to learn about the history and art of willow growing and basketmaking. The Centre was opened by David Bellamy in 1987 and has proved a huge tourism success for Somerset.
You will also find a wonderful selection of basketware to buy, handcrafted from Coate's own willow, by their team of skilled basketmakers. Why not call in to our tea rooms to enjoy tea and a homemade cake after your stroll around the centre!There is a gentle walk through our withy beds, or a longer circular walk along the River Tone and up to the viewpoint on the top of Windmill Hill. Here you can sit and take a rest and enjoy the view across Hay Moor and Curry Moor to the far distance.
If the weather is warm you may see a variety of insect life on the moors. Damsel flies and the much larger dragon flies abound, as do many varieties of butterflies. Marbled white, small copper, common blue, and orange-tip are some of the many species of butterflies found here. Even the silver-washed fritillary has been seen, and the stunning hawk moth is not uncommon.
Website link: www.englishwillowbaskets.co.uk
Visit to Glastonbury*please click the image below to access a photo slideshow of the visit to Glastonbury
photo: Glastonbury Tor is a hill at Glastonbury, Somerset, which features the roofless St. Michael's Tower. The site is managed by the National Trust.
Photographs of the slideshow taken by Ron Lapthorn.
HISTORY OF GLASTONBURY
Glastonbury dates back more than 4,000 years, and the historical background of the town is interwoven with worldfamous legends and folklore. It is these legends for which Glastonbury is best known, and perhaps the most enduring is that which identifies the area as Avalon, the fabled isle said to be the resting place of King Arthur.
Modern Glastonbury is not an island but it is believed that originally the settlement did lie among lakes and marshland. The town's links with Arthurian mythology were strengthened further by a discovery at Glastonbury Abbey in 1191, when the monks claimed to have found the burial site of Arthur and Guinevere within the grounds.
Legends dating back further suggest Glastonbury may have been visited by Joseph of Arimathea, possibly on more than one occasion. One tale has it that Joseph was Christ's uncle, and had once brought his young nephew on a trip to Somerset, inspiring William Blake's "Glastonbury Hymn", more commonly known as Jerusalem.
More widely-known is the story of Joseph's arrival in Glastonbury following the Crucifixion, when he was said to have buried the Holy Grail at the base of the Tor, and planted his staff on Wearyall Hill to create the Holy Thorn.
The truth of these stories is open to interpretation, but it is true that thorn trees continue to grow in Glastonbury, and at Christmas flowers are cut from the plants and sent to the Queen by the vicar of St John's Church. However, Glastonbury has an intriguing history beyond these tales.
The first inhabitants of the area were Stone Age farmers, who constructed primitive wooden tracks across the boggy landscape. Preserved examples of early dwellings were discovered near Glastonbury in the 1890s, consisting of about 90 huts built above wet ground with wooden platforms.Evidence of Roman occupation in the area is scarce, and it is thought the growth of Glastonbury into a town only began when the Abbey was founded, some time in the seventh century. Patronage and wealth were bestowed upon the Abbey by Saxon kings, taking it from strength to strength, and this laid the foundations for the expansion of the settlement.
The Saxons called the place Glaestingsburgh, meaning hill fort of the Glaestings, who were probably the first settlers - and the town's current name is derived from this. Sadly, the construction of the Abbey was not fully realised until a few years before the dissolution of the monasteries in the mid1500s. King Henry VIII, having set himself up as head of the Church of England, seized the wealth and estates of monasteries across the country.Glastonbury resisted the takeover, but was punished, and the destruction of the site followed shortly afterwards. Glastonbury became a simple market town, but gradually the town began to increase in prosperity.
In the 19th century, Glastonbury became wellknown for making gloves and stockings, and leatherworking became another important industry. A canal and a railway were opened, and although the leather and sheepskin trade eventually went into decline, the town had by this time grown in other lucrative directions, thanks to improved farming techniques.
Science and Natural History day trip to Weymouth - June 2010
After such fine weather for the last few days we were somewhat disappointed to see overcast skies as we set off for the coast in an Edwards coach, a further setback was a phone call from the Fleet Lagoon where we had booked a glass bottomed boat to make three trips so that our members could explore the underwater world of the Lagoon, the caller reported that the waters were murky and did we still wish to still do the boat trips, a check of our members and we had enough of us still interested to make up two trips.
*please click the image below to access a photo slideshow of the visit to Weymouth
Photographs were taken by Dorothy Witcomb and Ron Lapthorn
The other members opted out to visit the RSPB reserves, Radpole Park and Lodmore Country Park, a further option was to tour the shops or sunbath but the sunbathing was definitely out although the sunshades came in handy much later when we all had to shelter from the rain.
The members that went on the boat were entertained by our guide to a very interesting talk about Weymouth and the surrounding landscape, including the news that the water we were on was to be used for the 2012 Olympic boat competitions.
Because of the murky waters the glass bottomed boat did turn out to be disappointing but the commentary on what we could have seen plus a leisurely cruise was wonderful, thank you to our knowledgeable guide and his young female boat captain, who was far too young to know anything about our yarns from the past but she knew how to handle the craft.
Thank you Dorothy for a very interesting day out.
Ron Lapthorn
website link: www.thefleetobserver.co.uk
BLETCHLEY PARK SECRETS
(Check out the slide show of our visit plus two interesting websites)In May the Science and Natural History group visited Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes, what a fascinating day it turned out to be, some of our members had seen the film about Bletchley and the enigma machine, some had seen the television documentaries and most had seen the first reports in the 1980s about the code breaking in their newspapers but no one had seen or heard about it’s secrets before then.
*please click the image below to access a photo slideshow of the visit to Bletchley Park
Photo's taken by Bill Thomas and Ron LapthornThe 8.000 to 9,000 people working in three shifts throughout the war were sworn to secrecy even up until recently women visitors who had been at Bletchley in the 1940s had never told their husbands what secret wartime work they had been doing, now it was our chance to see and hear it all.
1940 saw the boffins/mathematician working on code breaking at Bletchley, and the Poles gave us an early start by identifying the workings of the enigma machine. Just before the war a machine was sent through the mail in Poland, wrapped as an ordinary package instead of being sent by Diplomatic Courier; it was on it’s way from Germany to the their Embassy in Warsaw, the Poles were suspicious of the package and checked it’s contents, inside was an enigma machine, it was the weekend so they took all it’s details and when asked by the Germans where the parcel was they informed them that no deliveries were made over the weekend, the Poles had it nicely wrapped and delivered to the German Embassy by Monday afternoon.
Here it was a sunny May afternoon in 2010 and 47 of us were walking the grounds, corridors and rooms of some of the original buildings, looking at the code breaking machines, Enigma Bombe rebuild, this was a complex electro-mechanical device designed by Alan Turing, the story goes that it is so named by the Poles which means “Eureka” probably what they exclaimed when they realised what they had stumbled on the time they opened their mail and found the Enigma cipher machine, then we saw Colossus rebuild, kept secret after the war from the Russians by Winston Churchill probably because we were entering the cold war with them and he had a use for it. All these machines were used for the secret work of breaking the German and Japanese codes which considerably speeded up the end of the Second World War.
I could say much more about our visit and what we were told and saw which included the house and museum but hope the above has wet your appetite to visit Bletchley Park and I for one am ready to go again. Thank you to the staff (many voluntary) and Maurice Tyler our guide for being so informative, patient and helpful. We also wish you good Luck with your grant applications to make Bletchley Park a worthy memorial to all the brilliant people who made the very first computer which helped to save the world.
Finally a thank you to Edwards Coaches and Dorothy Witcomb our convenor for organising this trip which including refreshment breaks at Best Weston Hotel near Farringdon and in the great hall at Bletchley Park
Ron Lapthorn
Try running Colossus yourself: www.codesandciphers.org.uk Or visit: www.bletchleypark.org.uk/
December 7th Science and Science Fiction:
*please click on the image below to access a larger photograph
Photo: Prof Mark Brake and Rev Neil Hook
Prof Mark Brake and Rev Neil Hook came to our science group and gave a fascinating and entertaining talk on the way in which science fiction inspires science.
Some ideas first developed in science fiction include space travel, mobile phones and the atom bomb.
Fiction can also make us come to terms with scientific advances e.g. Godzilla stories helped the Japanese deal with the trauma of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
At the end of the Lecture our members were asked to fire any questions at our speakers which we duly did, before coming down to Earth to finish with a vote of thanks from our Convenor Dr Dorothy Witcomb, we ended with mince pies, tea/coffee.
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This photo below was taken by one of our members John Sherrington
*please click on the image below to access a larger photograph
In his garden at Rogerstone, it has also been reported that one has also been seen with a
dove in the vicinity of Caldicot Castle..
Our leader takes us on a Safari to Slimbridge
*please click the image below to access a photo slideshow of the
visit to Slimbridge
WWT Slimbridge is a wetland reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (a UK charity) at Slimbridge, Gloucestershire. Slimbridge is halfway between Bristol and Gloucester on the estuary of the river Severn. The reserve was the first WWT centre to be opened, on the 10th November 1946, thanks to the vision of artist and naturalist Sir Peter Scott. The United Kingdom now has eight other WWT sites.The reserve exists to care for and study ducks and geese of the world. To cater for bird and duck watchers, sixteen hides overlook the fields, streams and lakes bordering the River Severn and the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. The Sloane Observation Tower gives far-reaching views to the Cotswold escarpment in the east and the River Severn and Forest of Dean in the West. Slimbridge has a visitors' centre and shop, restaurant, art gallery and Tropical House.
The site has 3 square kilometres of reserve, of which 500,000 square metres is landscaped and can be visited by the public.
The number of ducks, geese and swans is greatest in winter, with large flocks of White-fronted Geese, sometimes with a rare Lesser White-fronted Goose amongst them. Bewick's Swans are a feature of Slimbridge in winter, arriving from northern Russia to enjoy the milder climate of southern England. Their behaviour has been studied intensely at Slimbridge. The pattern on each bird's beak is unique and is recorded in small paintings from front and side views (rather like "mug shots") to aid recognition. Birds are also given names (for example, Maud, The Major, Ethel, Rudy and Aristole).
Other winter visitors are birds of prey such as Peregrine and Merlin, as well as wading birds and songbirds. Princess Elizabeth arranged for the first Whooper Swans to be sent to Slimbridge during a visit to Canada, at the personal request of Peter Scott during a visit by the Queen to Slimbridge in 1952. They became known as the Queen's Swans.
An early success story in the 1950s was the saving of the Nene goose (or Hawaiian Goose) from extinction. Breeding at Slimbridge was successful and there are still Nene geese at Slimbridge today. However, initial reintroduction into the wild in Hawaii was unsuccessful since the Nene's natural environment was not protected from predators introduced by man. Once the Nene's habitat was protected, reintroduction became successful.
Website link: www.wwt.org.uk
WWT Slimbridge is a wetland reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (a UK charity) at Slimbridge, Gloucestershire. Slimbridge is halfway between Bristol and Gloucester on the estuary of the river Severn. The reserve was the first WWT centre to be opened, on the 10th November 1946, thanks to the vision of artist and naturalist Sir Peter Scott. The United Kingdom now has eight other WWT sites.
The reserve exists to care for and study ducks and geese of the world. To cater for bird and duck watchers, sixteen hides overlook the fields, streams and lakes bordering the River Severn and the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. The Sloane Observation Tower gives far-reaching views to the Cotswold escarpment in the east and the River Severn and Forest of Dean in the West. Slimbridge has a visitors' centre and shop, restaurant, art gallery and Tropical House.
The site has 3 square kilometres of reserve, of which 500,000 square metres is landscaped and can be visited by the public.
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Ogmore-by-Sea
*please click the image below to access a photo slideshow of the
visit to Ogmore-by-Sea
The photo's were taken by Dorothy Witcomb and David Evans.
The slide show of our Science and Natural History Group visit to Ogmore where Dorothy Witcomb, our group convenor gave an interesting guided tour round the pools on the beach, the slide show illustrates some of the finds they made.
Background
The low cliffs and rock platforms along the coast from the mouth of the River Ogwr south east towards Dunraven Bay (Southerndown) provide outstanding access to some of Wales' geological heritage.Most of the rocky outcrops around the high tide mark are of Carboniferous Limestone (about 335 million years old).
In the area around Grid Reference 865-746, both on the wave-washed platform and on horizontal bedding planes capping the low cliffs, it is possible to see large curved solitary corals, colonial corals and large brachiopod shells.
Wales was situated close to the Equator at the time, under a monsoonal-type of climate, with warm, shallow tropical seas.
Within some 15 million years the seas had closed and a mountain chain up to 4000m high (the height of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco) was beginning to form over what is now Devon and Cornwall.
In front of this developing mountain chain a basin formed in south Wales that became filled with the debris as the mountains were eroded.
The river and delta deposits filling this basin became the host for Wales' coal wealth.
Eventually the forces building the mountains to the south also deformed and uplifted the coal basin. In places like Ogmore the once deeply buried (several kilometres) Carboniferous Limestone was now exposed to weathering and erosion.
By about 205 million years ago late Triassic) South Wales was an arid region at the latitudes of today's desert belts.
Ogmore-by-Sea was located on the northern edge of a dry lake basin similar to Death Valley today.
At times a salt lake filled the area between Ogmore and the Mendips.
The products of limited weathering in this arid setting were washed down by flash floods and their remains can be seen along the rocky shoreline with masses of fragmented limestones usually set in a white of red matrix.
There are even small valleys (wadis) cut into the Carboniferous Limestone, filled by these deposits, clearly visible again near 865-756.
By about 200 million years ago (early Jurassic) the climate had changed and the seas were rising.
The low hills over the present day Vale of Glamorgan were inundated to form a small archipelago set in a tropical sea.
The hills were largely made of the exhumed Carboniferous Limestone.
The Ogmore-Ewenny area was one of those islands, and as the seas flooded the area, the hill was surrounded by a rocky-sandy shoreline just like it is today, only warmer, with the sea alive with ammonites and giant marine reptiles.
At Pant-y-Slade (872-741) the Jurassic shoreline sands (shelly sands full of broken molluscs) are banked against the highly irregular cliffs of Carboniferous Limestone.
Telling these two limestones apart is not easy but if you look carefully the contact is marked by large coral colonies of Jurassic age, buried by Jurassic shelly sands with pebbles of darker Carboniferous Limestone.
Rocky shorelines are places of erosion where delicate features are readily destroyed; the Jurassic rocky shoreline at Pant-y-Slade is one of the finest examples anywhere in the world.
From this location look south east towards Witches Point in Dunraven Bay (Southerndown).
The main cliffs are of the Jurassic Blue Lias and represent the muddy, deeper water offshore deposits around the archipelago.
Accessibility: The coastal path is probably accessible to a wheelchair but not the actual fossil sites.
All the above are accessible at high tides - but of course anyone visiting any part of the south Wales coast must be aware of the dangers our local extreme tides present.
The sites are all adjacent to cliffs and at Pant-y-Slade there can be a danger from large waves.
Facilities: There is a very large car park at Ogmore..
The National Wetlands Centre Wales
*please click the image below to access a photo slideshow of the visit to
The National Wetlands Centre Wales
The Photographs were taken by Dorothy Witcomb.
What a glorious day the 1st of June was as we set off from Caldicot by coach to visit The National Wetlands Centre at Llanelli. The trip was organized by our Science and Natural History Convener, Dorothy Witcomb.
On our arrival we were greeted with complimentary coffee, biscuits and lots of smiles from the staff. Then we were off on a guided tour and those of our party that wished to make their own way were also off. The diversity of wild life kept us absorbed and digital cameras clicking. Attached is a slide show of some of our member's photographs.
National Wetlands Centre Wales - Llanelli
Stretching over 450 acres on the Burry Inlet, this magnificent mosaic of lakes, pools and lagoons is home to countless wild species as diverse as dragonflies and Little Egrets. Plus over 650 of some of the world’s most spectacular ducks, geese, swans and flamingos, many so tame they feed from the hand.
Website link: www.wwt.org.uk
Thank you Dorothy for a wonderful day out.
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DOLAUCOTHI GOLD MINES
On 11th May 2009 members of the History and Science Groups visited the Dolaucothi Gold mines in Carmarthenshire where gold has been mined since Celtic times.*please click the image below to access a photo slideshow of the visit
to Dolaucothi Gold mines in Carmarthenshire
photo: Rosa finds Gold
The Photographs were taken by Dorothy Witcomb, Glenice and Adrian Dallow
We were given a warm welcome by members of the National Trust and divided into to groups. One group went on a short walk along a Victorian adit (tunnel), the second climbed up the hill for an extensive tour of Roman and Victorian mines.
We then tried panning for gold and learnt to distinguish between fool's and red welsh gold. There was also time to see the exhibits, buy gold, and sample Irene's delicious home made deserts.
These unique gold mines are set amid wooded hillsides overlooking the beautiful Cothi Valley. The Romans who exploited the site almost 2,000 years ago left behind a complex of pits, channels, adits and tanks. Mining resumed in the 19th century and continued through the 20th century, reaching a peak in 1938.
Guided tours take visitors through the Roman and the more recent underground workings. The main mine yard contains a collection of 1930s mining machinery, an exhibition about the history of gold and gold mining, video and interpretation.
Gold panning gives visitors the opportunity to experience the frustrations of the search for gold. Other attractions include waymarked walks and picnic areas. There is fishing and accommodation on the estate, including a 35-pitch touring caravan site.
Gold mines in use from Roman times to the 20th century
Website link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk.
Wacky Scientific Experiments
Dorothy Witcomb our science convenor brought a different approach to our meeting this month (November) and it made for an enjoyable morning.
Firstly Dorothy showed a DVD borrowed from our head office which kept us sitting on the edge of our seats while the demonstrator was demonstrating different types of explosions within a safe laboratory set-up.
*please click the image below to access a photo slideshow of the
Wacky Scientific Experiments
We then moved on to the practical part of our meeting “hands on” where we were asked to use our mobile phones in a way that made popcorn jump. Four mobile phones were placed on the table all pointing towards the popcorn, then four other phones were meant to ring at the those on the table at same time, the problem was that only one or two of our members knew their own phone numbers so we never got to see the popcorn jump.
Dorothy then told us it had been seen working on UTUBE website but she informed us it had turned out to be a hoax.
We then tested our reaction to catching a plastic ruler when it was dropped by another member; the measurement was taken when the catcher caught the ruler. The idea was to then measure the effect on our reaction to catching the ruler again when someone called us on our mobile phone.
It was to see what effect it could have on our concentration when the phone went while driving a vehicle.
After this excitement we were asked to try and get a boiled egg that was larger than the bottle top into the bottle, even I couldn’t have faced eating one of these eggs after seeing some of the final results.
At the end of the class a comment was heard from one of the two grandchildren who were present due to a teachers training day at their school “this is better than school!”
Now view a few photo’s of our members trying these Wacky Scientific Experiments
Thank you Dorothy.
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Atomic Energy
Richard Blount, a member of our U3A, gave a very interesting talk on atomic energy at our
science and natural history class.
He first showed a short film entitled "Our friend the atom" which is a Walt Disney production and first shown in 1957 but is still very relevant.
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