The ‘Dark Peak’, the land to the south and east of Macclesfield rising up above the Cheshire plain, is a wild place. We are in England though, and even here in the North, things are only mildly wild. This is no wilderness, we are only 25 miles from Manchester, once the ‘workshop of the world’.… Continue reading Ludchurch – sandstone, landslips and a beheading game
Category: sediments
Orford Ness – nuclear bombs and gravel ridges
Suffolk in England is a peaceful part of a peaceful country. But if you know where to look, between its pretty villages, sandy beaches and open countryside there are many traces of war and violence. Often full of paddling children, the sea eats towns. From an historical perspective, whether they are French, Spanish, German, Dutch or… Continue reading Orford Ness – nuclear bombs and gravel ridges
The town eaten by the sea
Some towns have all the luck. A thousand years ago Southwold, in Suffolk on England’s east cost, was a fishing village dwarfed by Dunwich, a major port town to its south. Nowadays Southwold is a thriving seaside town and Dunwich is just a few houses, one pub and a museum. Its priory, leper hospital and… Continue reading The town eaten by the sea
Cycling in the Pennines – 300 million years ago
The north of England is dominated by rocks of Carboniferous age, which give it a distinctive scenery and history, where local coal fuelled the world’s first industrial landscape. The geology is extremely well known, because of the importance of the coal deposits, but also because of the continuing excellence of the British Geological Survey. A recent… Continue reading Cycling in the Pennines – 300 million years ago