Learn to read rocks
A walker’s field guide to the bones beneath Britain’s most beautiful landscapes. By Roly Smith
The English Romantic painter John Constable said: “We see nothing truly until we understand it.” That certainly applies to the British landscape.
We love our wonderfully varied landscape and the animals, birds, trees and flowers that populate it. But all life on Earth depends on the rocks beneath – the skeleton beneath the flesh. And a little knowledge of geology can add immeasurably to our understanding and enjoyment of a country walk. Come with us as we embark on a journey of discovery into the hidden Britain beneath our feet...
1 ANCIENT RAVINE CHEDDAR GORGE
The river that created the winding, 137m (450ft) deep Cheddar Gorge on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills is virtually invisible to visitors to the famous show caves today.
The gorge was formed by meltwater during interglacial periods over the last 1.2 million years, but during warmer times, such as we are enjoying today, the water flows underground through the permeable carboniferous limestone, creating the caves and leaving the gorge bone dry.
Today the underground Cheddar Yeo River emerges in the lower part of Gough’s Cave, where Britain’s most ancient complete human skeleton, estimated to be over 9,000 years old, was found in 1903. Interestingly, it has been suggested that the caves might have been used for maturing cheese in prehistoric times – perhaps the earliest examples of the eponymous cheese.