Friday, 15 July 2016

The Secrets of Gravels


The sunshine was out for our geology walk with Lesley Dunlop last night.


We started the walk by looking at the River Windrush before it joins the Thames, and the bridge at Newbridge. The bridge was built in 1250 from Taynton Stone, by the order of King John. It used to be considerably longer with 51 arches to allow passage over the Oxford Clay and improve communications between Cotswold farms and the wool towns in the South of England.

We then followed the river east and heard about the course of the Thames and how it’s changed over time, before crossing the river and walking back over the Oxford Clay towards Newbridge.

Chris shared with us some of his fossils, including the stem of a sea lily and a Gryphaea (Devil’s Toenails). These were collected from Oxford Clay revealed by gravel extraction in the Lower Windrush Valley.


All in all, a fascinating walk on a beautiful summer evening. Lesley will be leading another walk for us in September, details below:
Geology, Gravel Pits, River Valleys and Past Landscapes – Summer Walk
3rd September 10.30am
This walk takes in part of the current gravel extraction at Gill Mill and gives an opportunity to look at the composition of these, the underlying bedrock and what might have happened during the last 160 million years.

For more information:



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