...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 #24: Review of 2019 & AW's lost broadcast
Countrystride #23: West Coast Christmas - Voices from the past
Countrystride #22: Lost Words - Past and future in the woods of Wreay
Countrystride #21: Great Gable - Remembrance Sunday
Countrystride #20: Upper Eden - The fight to roam, with Kate Ashbrook
Countrystride #19: Pike O’Stickle - 50 years on the fells
Countrystride #18: The Pennine Way - Creation of a long, green trail
Countrystride #17: Beda Fell - with environmental campaigner Amy Bray
Countrystride #16: The Dales Way at 50 - A walk down Dentdale
Countrystride #15: John Ruskin - The Coniston visionary
Countrystride #14: A Pennine Journey - Life-changing walks
Countrystride #13: The Solway Coast - Wetlands, birdsong and lost lines
Countrystride #12: Great Langdale - A heritage landscape
Countrystride #11: High Stile – and the Buttermere skyline
Countrystride #10: Mardale Head - A walk on the wild side
Countrystride #9: Derwent Water: Creation of a landscape
Countrystride #8: Terry Abraham: Life on the mountains - A stroll on Helvellyn
Countrystride #7: A Grasmere Christmas - The Wordsworths and the coffin route
Countrystride #6: Langstrath - and the trees of Borrowdale
Countrystride #5: Ghosts of Burnmoor - Eskdale to Wasdale
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