Day 13: September 29, 2023 (Time Travel to the Carboniferous Period)

Marieke, Maël & Nava.

As the day began, we slowly realised that our journey was coming to an end. Our bags were packed once again and although it was our leaving day, we still had a full program.

With our bags left behind at the Youth Hostel we headed to Fossil Grove in Victoria Park. You might probably wonder what Fossil Grove is. Well, in that park there is a rather small house in which you can find 330-million-year-old trees fossilised from the carboniferous period. Now would you believe that these trees are even older than the dinosaurs? The first dinosaurs started to walk the earth only 250 million years ago. We almost couldn’t believe it either. When those trees were still living organisms, they sucked in a huge amount of carbon dioxide, causing an ice age. Equally fascinating was the fact that insects would grow much bigger during these times. Centipedes, for example reached a size of up to 2 metres. Dragon flies could have a wing span up to 70 centimetres.

 This can be explained with the higher oxygen concentration at the time. Back then, the area around Glasgow was located close to the equator and the landscape was comparable to today’s Mississippi delta. Floods happened often and the soil was generally quite muddy. Such conditions, with increasing sedimental overload, contributed to the organic matter to be converted into coal. This process set the basis for the industrialisation in Glasgow and hence turned it into the big city it is now.

Our tour guide was a lovely man who was very passionate about his work in the Fossil Grove. He told us about the lack of financial support of the Fossil Grove House and how the Fossil Grove Trust depends on donations and volunteer work to keep the fossilised trunks in good condition. Any financial contributions would surely be appreciated. So, remember to spread the word! 

After a bite to eat we felt strong enough to take on the next challenge of our day: taxis drove us to the central station of Glasgow. However, luck wasn’t on our side today: we were informed that there had apparently been a power cut or … maybe faulty signals? We never really found out. In any case, there was no train to bring us from Glasgow to London any time soon. Our plan to avoid the strike the following day did not seem to work out. With no help being provided by the staff of the train company Avanti Westcoast (actually no surprise when you look at the 1.7 of avanti west coast star rating on google) our great teachers came up with a backup plan. We went to another train station and took the first train to Edinburgh we could get in order to travel down to London along the East Coast. This time everything went well and we were allowed on to the train even without reservations! Once in London, we had a short walk to our last-minute hostel and dived right into the night life of London. We couldn’t have had a better last evening of our immersion trip. 

See you tomorrow for the last time!