Review by Dave Bodecott

Happy New Year from PESGB Cumberland (and Westmorland) – Lake District regional group!

(Please note, Westmorland does not have an “e” in the middle, neither does Mungrisdale which is just west of where we met and where the Lower Palaeozoic hills start).

Our group had a Christmas lunch meeting on Friday 23 December at the Herdwick Inn, Penruddock where the food, beer and accommodation are excellent, conveniently located beside the A66 main road to Keswick and five minutes from the M6. The pub has fibre broadband and last time I counted, was about a 20Mb/s connection. Penruddock sits on the Carboniferous limestone that rings the Lake District at about 2pm on the clock face. There is neither source rock nor reservoir potential thereabouts, but traces of Radon do emanate from the Lake District granite batholith 2000 metres below ground level.
The Herdwick is dog-friendly, which does present problems to customers at the bar when the landlord’s dogs pass wind or sit on the seats, but there is also a village shop upstairs, open 8am-10pm. The landlord appears to be geologist-friendly and the interior has many fine pieces of sandstone, limestone and volcanics to study over a pint by the warm fires.
The holiday season had brought out a wholesome group of geos. Short presentations were made on West Africa, City fundings, share markets and oil price scenarios including the Trump effect. We also looked at some superb Carboniferous stromatolite samples and discussed Seb Luning’s paper on solar radiation as a driver of Holocene climate cycles. Shares and the oil price have seen major increases over 2016 so there was a hint of optimism in the air, although it has to be said, 2016 has been a horrendous year for many, with some PESGB members sadly passing away, retiring, unemployed, under-employed or unemployable, despite their vast experience and multifarious talents. We all hope the future is brighter.

Next meeting will probably be around Easter time depending on travel commitments.