Nine Wells Local Nature Reserve is now (February 2017) a Local Geological Site. This designation highlights its geological value for scientific, educational, historical and/or aesthetic reasons. As well as being the source of Hobson’s Conduit, the chalk springs at Nine Wells are a good example of those in the south of the county that occur along the springline at the level of the Totternhoe Stone (locally known as the Burwell Rock).

Nine Wells is found south of the Addenbrookes Biomedical Campus on the southern side of the city of Cambridge. It only covers 1.2 hectares but is quite unique for a number of reasons due to its landscape, geology, history, fauna and flora. The landscape here is marked by a change of slope between the chalkland to the south and the flat (chalk marl and clay) land to the north. The rocks here are the source of spring waters that rise from fissures in a hard band of Totternhoe Stone, known locally as the Burwell Rock. This famous layer in the chalk lies at the base of the Zig Zag Chalk, and overlies the West Melbury Chalk Marl.

For more information see the Nine Wells page.

All are welcome to our monthly talks which cover a range of topics and are aimed at those with a general interest in geology and landscape, as well as those with a more specific interest or a geological background. The talks are held in Cambridge, on the 2nd Monday of the month, from September to June and are free to members, with a charge made for non members. Other events that we organise are announced at the meetings as are local events organised by Geo-East.

Check our Events page for all upcoming talks and events

East Pit, a disused chalk quarry within the city of Cambridge, was designated as a Local Geological Site in February 2016. This highlights its geological value for scientific, educational, historical and aesthetic reasons. East Pit is one of three, once economically significant, chalk quarries in Cherry Hinton. It is part of the Cherry Hinton Chalk Pits nature reserve owned and managed by The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. See the Local Sites page for more details on Geosites or see the Chalk Uplands  page for an introduction to the chalk of Cambridgeshire.

See the East Pit page for more information.

The Last of the Meres Trail is a new walking trail that guides you through the fenland landscape of northern Cambridgeshire. The trail has been developed as part of The Great Fen, a project to restore one of Cambridgeshire’s most iconic landscapes. The area that the trail passes through is gradually regaining its wildlife value and provides an interesting walk together with viewing areas and a bird hide.

As well as wildlife, you can see the water channels and areas of peat that are characteristic of fenland. The trail passes a collection of limestone blocks that were quarried at the ‘Hills and Holes’ in Barnack, near Stamford, but did not reach their destination (probably as building stones for one of the important buildings on the edges of the fenland). Instead, they were lost (perhaps when a boat sank) whilst being transported over the waters of Whittlesey Mere, once one of the largest freshwater lakes in England but drained in the last few hundred years to make agricultural land. Our ‘Fen Edge Trail‘ will link with this and other trails in The Great Fen.