Water and Stone 2021 │ Dr Beth Simons

Water and Stone was a three-day event comprised of walks, talks, workshops and demonstrations celebrating and exploring Helston's built heritage. It was organised by CAST in association with Helston Makes It!
Taking place across three days in September 2021, the programme set out to examine the geological sources of Helston’s exceptionally fine granite buildings and pavements and the relationship between geology and industry that is evident in the town’s network of kennels and opes - all features that contribute to its unique sense of place.
In her talk 'Dynamic Planet, Dynamic Granite', Dr Beth Simon's discussed the ways in which granite forms and characterised the variations found in Cornwall.
Dr Beth Simons is a Cornish geologist with a PhD and a number of publications on the mineralogical and geochemical variation of granites in southwest England, including the relevance for extraction of critical metals for the low carbon economy, such as lithium. Since 2017 she has worked for INGOs and a UN agency in humanitarian shelter response to disasters and conflict, with a recent focus on supporting local building cultures. She collaborated with David Paton on the Tracing Granite project commissioned for the Groundwork programme (2016-18) and compiled the Geological Glossary published on the Groundwork website: groundwork.art/tracing-granite
The talk was filmed by olliesmithstudio.com
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Water and Stone was supported by FEAST, Helston Town Council, Cornwall Heritage Trust and The Curry Fund.
The project was also supported by Cornwall Council’s Community Chest small grants scheme, with individual grants from Councillors Guy Foreman (Helston South & Meneage) and Mike Thomas (Helston North).