As you walk the White Walls Way from Malmesbury to Luckington you will be walking entirely on rocks of the middle Jurassic period, laid down around 160-165 million years ago. At this time, the underlying rock of what was to form the Malmesbury district was a lot further south than it is now - about 30N, roughly the latitude the Canary Islands are today. It was part way through a long erratic journey north from near the South Pole, where it had been 330 million years earlier, borne by moving tectonic plates – a journey that continues today...
Discover the story of the ground you are walking on. Richard Skeffington, Professor of Physical Geography at the University of Reading guides you through the geology of the White Walls way. Read the full story... |