Countrystride #122: LIMESTONE of the WESTMORLAND DALES

...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

The track below Knott.

Our hosts for the day: the brilliant Peter and Sylvia Woodhead.

Lime kiln - with quarry alongside.

Moss walls.

Heather in limestone country - a sign of underlying glacial 'till'.

The cross on Beacon Hill.

Below Knott on Great Asby Scar.

Remarkable 'in situ' coral - signs of life from a bygone age.

A 'sponge'.

Gamelands Stone Circle.