Barry Butler

Barry Butler studied geology at the University of Cambridge from 1951 to 1954. He worked for three years as a field geologist with the Attock Oil Company in Pakistan, and then returned to Cambridge in 1957 to do research on the Moine Schists in Ardnamurchan, Argyllshire, obtaining his Ph.D. in 1960.

He moved to the University of Oxford as Lecturer in Mineralogy. He became interested in the mineralogy of slags and refractories used in the metal production industry, and in 1969-70 had a sabbatical year with the British Steel Corporation. For several years he was Managing Editor of the Journal of Petrology. He has had a career-long interest in teaching methods. In 1988 he published “Interpretation of Geological Maps”, co-authored with J.D.Bell.

He has had a connection with the Open University since its foundation, as an examiner and student (gaining a degree in social sciences). For many years he was a tutor in geology, first in South Region and more recently in North Region.

He retired in 1988. With his wife, Louise, he moved to Hurst in Swaledale, where they converted a derelict barn in a sheep pasture into a house and garden. They moved to Robin Hood’s Bay in 2006.

He is an active member of the North East Yorkshire Geology Trust - an organization whose mission is to promote the understanding of rocks and scenery.

His interests, in addition to geology and walking, are making things with wood (marquetry, wood-turning, carpentry), watercolour painting, and drawing.