A rite of passage

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Shap granite - pink orthoclase feldspars, white plagioclase, grey quartz minerals, and dark and shiny micas


Every summer, the Open University used to hold a residential course, SXR260 The geological history of the British Isles, based at Durham University. For a week’s study, you didn’t just need your everyday clothes; you needed your outdoor gear (not forgetting waterproofs!) and boots, camera, books, stationery, sunblock, hairdryer... you get the picture.  You tended to gain the odd hand specimen of rock to take home for your reference collection as well; not many, of course, but choice.  If you’re interested enough to be reading this, you have probably been on the same course or on a good few field trips so you know what I’m talking about in terms of luggage!

Durham Station did not have lifts.  At the end of my week (I was there in 2005), there I was, struggling to carry my case down the stairs.  I’m not tiny but the case was hefty.  Bang on cue, this chap and his girlfriend overtake me and said chap takes the chance to impress his girlfriend with his gallantry. “Can I help you with your case, love?”  “Yes, please,” said I in my most pathetic voice.

Chap picks up the case, which is clearly heavier than he expected. “What have you got in here, rocks?”  “Funny you should say that, I’ve just been doing a week’s geology...”  The look on his face clearly said that he couldn’t have made up that story if he tried.  I know I couldn’t have done, and I've often wondered whether he told the story in the pub that night.

One of the visits during the week had been to Shap Quarry, in Cumbria.  I had heard so much about Shap granite during the previous 18 months that it had assumed almost numinous status. Since then, I've seen polished slabs of it on walls and used as counter tops, and the bollards outside St Paul's (London) are carved from it. 

When we visited, we were actively encouraged to take a bit of the granite each away with us – the quarry get lots of goodwill and a bit of waste rock removed for free and the student gets a specimen for their collection.  Win-win!  The smokers (as I was then) were sitting playing chimneys on a wall outside our accommodation and we all agreed that while we had been fascinated by all of our site visits, visiting Shap quarry had genuinely felt like a rite of passage with our hand specimens feeling like tokens of that rite.

Needless to say, the granite at the top of this post is the piece I brought back with me.

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