Blog & News

Review: Soft Rock, Hard Rock and a Trace of Heavy Metal

Tue 31 May 2016

Category: Field Trips, Reviews

Bob LeppardReview by Stephen Pickering, NExT, Schlumberger plc

The Geological Survey map of Great Britain shows that the sediments at outcrop in central London comprise Eocene London Clay, Bagshot Beds and Quaternary glacio-fluvial sediments.  However imagine my surprise as I walked down Piccadilly, St James’s Street and Pall Mall to find outcrops of Cretaceous Rudistid Marbles, Jurassic Portland and Bath Limestones, Silurian Burlington Slate, Dalradian Connemara Marble and Monian Jaspers.  In addition there were numerous granites and marbles of the type more commonly found in Scandinavia, Lake District, Greece, Aberdeenshire, Cornwall and Carrara, Italy.   Did William Smith get it wrong I ask?

I was actually on the Soft Rock, Hard Rock and a Trace of Heavy Metal trip lead by Bob Leppard.  I did not see Roy Wood, Led Zeppelin or Jimi Hendrix but the building stones of London.  Bob has lead this particular trip for 30 years, initially for the non-technical staff at a company he worked for in Pall Mall.  Typical field trip weather prevailed, decidedly cool and damp but this did not deter because the information shared by Bob was so interesting.

Not only was the course extremely informative geologically but it had the added bonus of Bob’s insights into the Georgian and Victorian history and the architecture of St James’s, London.  There were many interesting anecdotes about Lobb’s, shoemakers to many famous people including George Bernard Shaw, and where the first bowler hats were made for a Mr. Coke. Berry Brothers wine merchants which was once a grocers and where people went to get weighed in the absence of personal bathroom scales circa 1698, and the building which was the Texas Embassy when Texas was a sovereign state (1836-1846).   Particularly interesting was Schomberg House once resided in by Gainsborough.  On the top of this building once stood the “celestial bedroom” but to find out more you need to go on the trip.

Going back in geologic time I was particularly impressed by the Portland Roach Stone of the Economist Building, St James’s Street containing Aptyxiella portlandica moulds, the so called Portland Screw. (Figure 1), and the Serpentinite doorframe around 18 Pall Mall and Bob’s erudite explanation of its formation from a Peridotite on a mid-oceanic ridge (Figure 2)

Bob has probably lead more field trips for the PESGB than any other individual in our history and he deserves a tremendous thank you from all PESGB members.   Thank you Bob for a very enjoyable evening.

Make sure you book the field trip in 2017!

Figure 1 Portland Roach Stone, Economist Building, St James’s Street

Fig 1

Figure 2 Serpentinite 18 Pall Mall

Fig. 2