A Geological Diversion...
Oct. 1st, 2011 03:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
endlessraritiesI mentioned the Stiperstones in passing yesterday, so I thought I'd devote a post to them today.
About twenty years ago, the BBC aired an obscure little programme as part of the Open University called Landshapes. It featured whom I assume was either a geologist or a geographer with a very droning soporiphic voice talking about the formation of landscapes, and the various processes involved in their creation. This was one of the very bizarre eclectic mix of things that my mother took an interest in - she taped a few episodes, which I've still kept for posterity. The lecturer who presented the series was a bit dull, but combine that with a rather marvellous soundtrack and stunning aerial shots of Britain's landscapes, and the result was, I think, a winning formula.
One of the examples featured on Landshapes was the Stiperstones. This is the name given to a series of quartzite tors which form dominant features on a prominent ridge which lies to the south-east of Shrewsbury. Ever since I first stumbled across them on this programme, I've wanted to see them in person.
So naturally, a walk around the Stiperstones was one of the activities on our agenda.
We did a ridgewalk which took us from the atmospherically named East Bog Car Park up onto the ridge. The first of the formations we came across was The Devil's Chair, which is featured below:-
The ridge path is a rocky track which is quite harsh underfoot, as you can see from the photo...
After The Devil's Chair comes The Man Stone, which is made even more dramatic by the addition of an Ornance Survey trig point:-
Eagle-eyed viewers might just spot the archaeology - the massive heaps of stones are actually cairns. I saw them at the time, and thought 'how odd! There's no way these got here by themselves. What's going on??' But I was so busy trying not to trip over that I couldn't give the conundrum much thought - it was only in the comfort of a local hostelry (The Stiperstones Inn - where the portions are HUGE!!! And veggies are well looked after!) that I spotted a framed OS map that had the legend 'field system' in the classic Gothic script that denotes an antiquity. I'd guess this means that the field system's likely to be prehistoric, though in that case I'd expect the cairns to be grass-covered. One things for sure: the earlier activity would be much more easy to spot if the vegetation wasn't at its height....
I digress, as usual. The views of the surrounding landscape are equally stunning:-
About twenty years ago, the BBC aired an obscure little programme as part of the Open University called Landshapes. It featured whom I assume was either a geologist or a geographer with a very droning soporiphic voice talking about the formation of landscapes, and the various processes involved in their creation. This was one of the very bizarre eclectic mix of things that my mother took an interest in - she taped a few episodes, which I've still kept for posterity. The lecturer who presented the series was a bit dull, but combine that with a rather marvellous soundtrack and stunning aerial shots of Britain's landscapes, and the result was, I think, a winning formula.
One of the examples featured on Landshapes was the Stiperstones. This is the name given to a series of quartzite tors which form dominant features on a prominent ridge which lies to the south-east of Shrewsbury. Ever since I first stumbled across them on this programme, I've wanted to see them in person.
So naturally, a walk around the Stiperstones was one of the activities on our agenda.
We did a ridgewalk which took us from the atmospherically named East Bog Car Park up onto the ridge. The first of the formations we came across was The Devil's Chair, which is featured below:-
The ridge path is a rocky track which is quite harsh underfoot, as you can see from the photo...
After The Devil's Chair comes The Man Stone, which is made even more dramatic by the addition of an Ornance Survey trig point:-
Eagle-eyed viewers might just spot the archaeology - the massive heaps of stones are actually cairns. I saw them at the time, and thought 'how odd! There's no way these got here by themselves. What's going on??' But I was so busy trying not to trip over that I couldn't give the conundrum much thought - it was only in the comfort of a local hostelry (The Stiperstones Inn - where the portions are HUGE!!! And veggies are well looked after!) that I spotted a framed OS map that had the legend 'field system' in the classic Gothic script that denotes an antiquity. I'd guess this means that the field system's likely to be prehistoric, though in that case I'd expect the cairns to be grass-covered. One things for sure: the earlier activity would be much more easy to spot if the vegetation wasn't at its height....
I digress, as usual. The views of the surrounding landscape are equally stunning:-
And the rock formations are worthy of a detailed inspection, too:-
So that's another thing ticked off the 'Things I Really Must Do Before I Die' list. Full marks to the OU, for airing Landshapes and making me aware of the Stiperstones in the first place. And full marks, too, to my late mother, whose nose for bizarre and interesting television programmes meant I actually watched it. From Doctor Who to Chronicle, I guess her viewing habits did a lot to shape mine!
