...in which we set out from springtime Orton to explore the limestone scars of the Westmorland Dales in the company of husband-and-wife geologist / botanist team Syvia and Peter Woodhead. Alongside bubbling Chapel Beck, we encounter early flowers and a lively March hare as we learn about the geological origins of limestone - in distant coral seas some 350 million years ago. Arriving on Orton Scar, with its big-sky panoramas, we reflect on the industrial processing of lime – for agriculture and construction – and observe the 'lasagne' layering of different eras of deposition. Passing limestone pavement on the shoulder of Knott – grikes forming micro-climates for an abundance of rare plants – we encounter myriad fossils, of corals, gastropods and sponges, that record cycles of life and mass extinction. Chased by a storm that never arrives, we finish our walking circuit at Gamelands Stone Circle, where we reflect on the power and legacy of ice.
For more about the Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership project, see friendsofthelakedistrict.org.uk/westmorland-dales-hidden-landscapes-partnership
The GeoTrail walks can be found at friendsofthelakedistrict.org.uk/westmorland-dales-geotrails-2022
For Cumbria GeoCoonservation see cumbriageoconservation.org.uk
Countrystride #64: Joss Naylor
Countrystride #63: Danny Teasdale - Ullswater after the storm
Countrystride #62: GRANGE-OVER-SANDS & Hampsfell
Countrystride #61: Norman Nicholson - Son of Millom
Countrystride #60: Wad - The wealth of Borrowdale
Countrystride #59: Rural visionary - John Dunning in the Westmorland Dales
Countrystride #58: Swaledale - Meadows & mines
Countrystride #57: Helvellyn
Countrystride #56: Life in the woods - Working the Rusland rainforests
Countrystride 55: Threlkeld - A story of stone & steam
Countrystride #54: Damsons of the Lyth Valley
Countrystride #53: The lost history of hill farming
Countrystride #52: Cumbria Way with Paddy Dillon
Countrystride #51: Skiddaw House - Loneliest house in England
Countrystride #50: The young people of Cumbria
Countrystride #49: Wainwright on Haystacks - An anniversary retrospective
Countrystride #48: Hadrian's Wall
Countrystride #47: Lakeland pilgrims
Countrystride #46: Cumbria in a campervan
Countrystride #45: Review of 2020
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