From Lyth Hill

Today's the day ………………………….. for a 550 million year view

The skies were still glowering and dark as we drove home today - but maybe the weather was not quite so bad as forecasted.  We stopped for a picnic lunch on the top of Lyth Hill in Shropshire and the view was magnificent.  Very old, hard rocks form the skyline.  The big bump on the far horizon is The Wrekin - an ancient volcano formed by colossal heat and pressure..

Massive forces caused by the shifting of continent-sized plates in the Earth's crust compressed, pushed up and folded these rocks.  Over millions of years, the tectonic plate on which we were standing, was pushed north, travelling from near the Antarctic to its present position.  In that time, this view has been swallowed by seas, sun-baked and finally crushed, worn and shattered by the glaciers of the last Ice Age. 

A lesson in geology for all to see ………………………..  


PS On a completely different note, can I say how absolutely delighted we are today that Geraint Thomas has won the yellow jersey in the Tour de France!