15 October 2025 19:00 - 21:00 | Virtual or Conference Room, Redbourn Parish Centre, The Park, Redbourn, nr. St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL3 7LR,
15 October 2025 | 19:00 - 21:00 | Virtual or Conference Room, Redbourn Parish Centre, The Park, Redbourn, nr. St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL3 7LR,
Join our Home Counties North Regional Group for a hybrid evening lecture presented by Dr Haydon Bailey FGS CGeol.
The Upper Cretaceous Chalks of Northern Europe appear, on the face of it, to represent sedimentation during an extended period of relative tectonic and environmental stability. Nothing could be further from the truth. These uniform, white, fine-grained carbonates are the sediments resulting from constant change in water temperature, oxygen content, dynamic water currents both at the sea surface and at depth.
Back in 1994, Haydon presented a talk at a European conference entitled 'Chalk, white, as above!', because that was the comment frequently seen on core logs, geologists’ description sheets and engineering geologists’ well logs. Just how much information were we losing because of this phrase?
Over the last 30 years, our understanding of chalk deposition, and the environmental conditions which control it, have fundamentally shifted. Hopefully, Haydon can convince attendees of this lecture that this might be the case.
This is a hybrid lecture, which can be attended in person in Redbourn, Hertfordshire, or online via Zoom. The lecture will start at 7pm, with refreshments for in-person attendees available from 6.30pm.
How to book
Email homecountiesnorthregionalgroup@gmail.com to book you place. Please provide your membership number in your email, and state whether you wish to attend in-person or online.
In-person places are available on a first-come-first-served basis. Priority will be given to Fellows and Student Fellows of the Geological Society who are members of the Home Counties North Regional Group.
Online attendees will receive an email containing the Zoom link before the event.
The lecture is being held in the Conference Room at Redbourn Parish Centre, The Park, Redbourn, near St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL3 7LR.
By train
Redbourn does not have a railway station and is located roughly halfway between St Albans (City) and Harpenden stations on the Midlands Mainline/Thameslink route.
By car
There is limited parking both in front of the Redbourn Parish Centre and to the rear of the centre on a first come first served basis. Elsewhere in Redbourn there is some on-street parking together with both double yellow and restricted single yellow line parking available. Redbourn is easily accessible off the M1 Junction 9 then heading south of the A5183 Redbourn Bypass to the second roundabout at the southern end of High Street, then up High Street turning left onto Common Road and taking the third turning on the left into The Park.
Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
This Home Counties North Regional Group event qualifies for your CPD hours spent travelling to/from and attending the event. The content is intended to be suitable for early career through to experienced geologists and related professionals.
Dr Haydon Bailey FGS CGeol
Haydon Bailey graduated in Geology from the University of Sheffield and subsequently achieved a PhD in Chalk micropalaeontology from Plymouth, and then worked as a consultant stratigrapher in the oil and gas industry for over forty years.
He still specialises in Upper Cretaceous Chalk stratigraphy, although his career has led to projects throughout much of the geological time scale around Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He recently retired for the position of co-Director of Network Stratigraphic Consulting Ltd., a company he co-founded some 25 years ago.
Haydon is a Chartered Geologist and a past President of the Geologists’ Association and is currently Chairman of the GA Curry Fund committee and the Awards committee. He is the Co-Ordinator for the GA SchoolRocks! initiative.
He is also a past Chairman and Industrial Liaison Officer of The Micropalaeontological Society. Since 2012 he has been Honorary Lecturer on the M.Sc. course in Micropalaeontology at the University of Birmingham and since January 2019 he has been a Scientific Associate of the Natural History Museum, London. He also holds the position of Geological & Environmental Adviser to the Chiltern Society (since 2008), where his initial brief was to prepare a report on the underlying geology of the Misbourne river valley; subsequently this valley became the preferred route for the HS2 high speed railway. It still takes up too much of his time. He’s married to a talented musician, has two super children and three wonderful grandchildren.
This event is free of charge to all members of the Geological Society.