We have a shelf in our house with all sorts of knick-knacks and treasures arranged upon it, an eclectic collection of interesting and shiny objects that we’ve chosen in a manner akin to a Magpie, and carefully placed like a Bower bird. These things include seashells, candles, Mamod steam engines, interesting coins and things I’veContinue reading “Shepherd’s Crowns”
Tag Archives: #Geology
Clitheroe’s Ancient Wells
The market town of Clitheroe is unique in Lancashire for being the only one built predominantly of, and on Limestone and owes much of its existence to the waters which bubble up through its calciferous bedrock. It was founded around three ancient wells, St Mary’s Well, Heald Well, and Stocks Well, which served not onlyContinue reading “Clitheroe’s Ancient Wells”
Limekiln Landscapes; the Legacy of Bowland’s Limekilns
Hidden away deep in the Forest of Bowland, sagged and slumped under the weight of time and overgrown with mosses, ferns and lichens, lie relics of a once great industry; the manufacture of Quicklime. These unassuming structures, now mostly reclaimed by time and nature, were once vital to the agricultural and economic life of theContinue reading “Limekiln Landscapes; the Legacy of Bowland’s Limekilns”
The Rocks Beneath Our Feet, Part Two, Norber Erratics
Norber Erratics are fascinating and unique geological formations scattered on the western flanks of Ingleborough in Ribblesdale near to the village of Austwick. They are formed from over a hundred precariously balanced boulders and widely thought to be the best example of glacial erratics in the British isles, erratic referring to the fact that theyContinue reading “The Rocks Beneath Our Feet, Part Two, Norber Erratics”
Unnatural Histories, The Fairy hole Caves at Whitewell
Lancashire isn’t exactly well known for its caves, with neighbouring Yorkshire enjoying all the potholing fun, but the edge of the Limestone reefs that underlie the North Yorkshire moors, which are famous for their extensive cave systems, do show their face again one last time in Lancashire before disappearing beneath the shale and gritstone ofContinue reading “Unnatural Histories, The Fairy hole Caves at Whitewell”
The Rocks beneath our feet, Part 1
The Ice Age and Glacial Erratics The Ice Age As with all parts of the British isles the Northwest of England owes the current shape and form of its landscape to the geological processes of many hundreds of millions of years, some of which we‘ll look at in this series of articles. The most obviousContinue reading “The Rocks beneath our feet, Part 1”
Northwest Nature and History 