Princess Royal opens new earth science centre

DESPITE arriving an hour late due to torrential rain and difficulties finding a suitable landing place for the royal helicopter, HRH The Princess Royal visited the new Somerset Earth Science Centre, near Shepton Mallet, earlier today [Wednesday] to formally open the unique field-study centre provided by the county’s quarrying industry.

Funded and managed by the Mendip Quarry Producers (MQP), an association of the leading quarrying companies in Somerset, the purpose-built centre adjacent to John Wainwright’s Moons Hill Quarry, in Stoke St Michael, will provide a range of learning experiences for school children and students of all ages through classroom activities and field work.

Replacing the former East Mendip Study Centre at Hanson’s Whatley Quarry, the new £600,000 facility provides a bigger and better classroom equipped with all the latest teaching aids and offers facilities for people with disabilities or special needs.

Field work takes place in the surrounding woodland and lake, and students are able to visit quarries in the area for first-hand experience of the processes involved.

Study centre teacher Gill Odolphie said: ‘All of the activities offered are linked to the National Curriculum. For more advanced studies, schools can use the centre for geological field trips to nationally important local sites and for geography projects linked to the quarrying industry.’

Topics covered at the centre include all aspects of quarrying from processing stone to environmental impact, plus geography, ecology, geology, careers, technology and business studies.

From and environmental perspective, the single-storey building is designed to be carbon neutral and features a number of energy-saving qualities including its own wind turbine and a high thermal mass to retain heat in the winter and stay cool during the summer.

The centre is managed by a charitable company with directors appointed from the MQP and the district council. During school holidays and in the evenings, the facility is available for wider community use.