The arrival in Suffolk of wind-carried orange-red dust of Saharan origin occasionally adds small quantities to sediments forming at the present time. There are certainly three well-documented events. On 22 February 1903 dust fell as far north as Ipswich. On 1 and 2 July 1968 there was orange dust on vehicles in Ipswich and reports of a brick-red deposit in Lowestoft. On 9-10 November 1984 there was reddish rain over East Anglia.
A search for Saharan dust in interglacial geological deposits may perhaps yield information on climatic change.
Further reading:
Mill, H.R. and R.G.K. Lempfert. 1904. The great dust fall of February 1903 and its origins Quart. Journ Royal Meteorological Soc., 30 : 57-73.
Stevenson, C.M. 1969. The dust fall and severe storms of 1 July 1968. Weather, 24 : 126-132.
Dressens, J and Van Dinh, P.1990. Frequent Saharan Dust Outbreaks North of the Pyrenees : A Sign of Climate Change? Weather, 45 : 327-333.
Glancing through the 1996 - 1998 journals of the Ipswich Transport Society gives an idea of the various geological freight travelling by rail to local outlets.
There was 'stone' from Mountsorrel to Barham and to Chelmsford, also 'stone' (unspecified) to Kennett and to Trowse (Norwich). This 'stone' is probably Mountsorrel (Leicestershire) granodiorite.
Limestone from Tunstead in the Peak District was brought for British Sugar Works, to Ipswich (for Sproughton), Bury St. Edmunds, Brandon (for Wissington) and Norwich (for Cantley). This is Carboniferous Limestone.
Limestone from Tunstead in the Peak District was brought for British Sugar Works, to Ipswich (for Sproughton), Bury St. Edmunds, Brandon (for Wissington) and Norwich (for Cantley). This is Carboniferous Limestone.
There was also coal (imported via the Isle of Grain) to Ipswich, sand (source unspecified) to (from?) Marks Tey, and natural water (from Scotland) to Gidea Park. Off-shore oil industry material was sent from Lowestoft to Aberdeen.
Further information will be welcome.
The walking draglines were designed and constructed at the former Ransomes and Rapier's Waterside Works in Ipswich, and assembled at the sites where they would work. A large foot was fitted to each side of the machine, enabling the largest machines to travel as much as 7 feet 6 inches (2.29m) with each step. They were made from 1937 onwards, and during the nineteen-fifties included the W1800 model, weighing up to 1,850 tons, with a 40 cu. yds (30.6 cu. m) bucket carried on a boom 247 feet (75.3m) long.
Some of the places they worked were:-
Stewarts and Lloyds Minerals Ltd., at Corby, Northamptonshire, for removing overburden (50 ft Boulder Clay and 50 ft sands, clays and limestone) from an ironstone (iron ore) bed. This was a W1400 machine, with a 20 cu. yd bucket on a 282 ft long boom. The spoil here was 'left in hill and dale formation suitable for afforestation'. There is a photograph of this machine in British Regional Geology : Central England (3rd edition, by B.A. Hains and A.Horton), H.M.S.O., plate X1.
United Steel Company Ltd., at Exton, Rutland, removing overburden (15 - 90 feet) over ironstone. (W1400). Stewarts and Lloyds Minerals Ltd., at Sewstern, Lincolnshire, removing overburden from ironstone. Mears Bros. (Contractors) Ltd., near Leeds, removing overburden from coal.
Sir Lindsay Parkinson & Co. Ltd., near Newcastle, removing overburden from a seam of coal.
National Coal Board, stripping overburden from anthracite at Maesgwyn Cap, South Wales. This was a W1800 machine owned by the N.C.B. but operated by George Wimpey and Co. Ltd.
London Brick Co. Ltd., digging clay for bricks at Stewartby, Bedfordshire.
Svenska Skifferolje AB (a Swedish company) operating in the shale oil industry.
(Name of operator unknown to me) digging for diamonds in Tanganyika.
I wish to thank Brian Dyes of the Ipswich Transport Museum for his help.
References:
A Twenty-Cubic-Yard Walking Dragline The Engineer, 2 and 9 November 1951.
Rapier Walking Draglines: Ransomes & Rapier Publication no. 4/460.
The 17th Essex Gem and Mineral Show was held on Saturday 20th February 1999 at the North Romford Community Centre, Clockhouse Lane, Collier Row. Admission was 80p and there were specimens for sale, refreshments, and free parking.
I saw a number of familiar faces at the stalls, including Gerald Lucy (fossils and minerals), Peter Lawrance (fossils, minerals and books), Graham Ward (minerals and fossils) and John Cooper (books). This annual show is organised by the Essex Rock and Mineral Society. Further details of the show may be obtained from Stuart Adams, tel. 0181 504 9422, and of the society from Mr. J.C. Lacy, tel. 01277 364874
Bob Markham
Field-meeting led by Dr Peter Allen, to study the evolution of the Fenland landscape. Meet at the picnic area (TL 729 744), just north of Barton Mills roundabout on the A1065, at 10.15 a.m. We shall be driving on from there. Bring stout footwear and packed lunch. The field-meeting route will be on O.S. sheet 143 (1:50,000).