Here we are – midday on Christmas Day in Ashes Hollow, Little Stretton, Shropshire, walking across some of the oldest landscape on the planet. Such vast antiquity is perhaps an unexpected distinction within a rural English county whose location, even to the citizens of the United Kingdom, is often a total mystery.
But here it is, one of the valleys, locally known as batches, whose streams wheedle their way down from the flanks of the Long Mynd, a 7-mile ridge of Precambrian rock, formed around 570 to 560 million years ago. It is also well travelled geology, having moved 13,000 miles from its origins in the Antarctic circle where its iron-rich sediments (eroded from volcanic mountains) first accumulated on the sea bed. This was closely followed by some tectonic shunt and shift which squeezed the sediments into a U-shape, so tipping them from the horizontal to the vertical. It’s a feature you can glimpse here and there on exposed rock faces. It means too, that in one sense at least, as you pass, you are walking through time.
Tish Farrell 
Oh my goodness….the ghosts of Christmas past….
it was all a bit ghosty.
…must have been my late parents lingering about the place….they loved that area for walks
Kindly spirits then 🙂
Absolutely
Beautiful pictures. I especially like the tree with the enormous roots.
Merry Christmas.
Many thanks, rabirius. Festive greetings to you too.
How extraordinary, and also dramatic to think of how far it is has moved. Our Christmas Day walk was nothing like this, we were bathed in sunshine and newness of the Algarvian barrocal
Bathing in sunshine sounds wonderful. We’re still a bit murky here in Shropshire, tho v. mild
My Mum just texted me to say it was brilliant blue sky and sunshine in Bristol when she landed, but now thick fog at home in Castle Cary. I think I’ll stay here a while longer and avoid your English murkiness!
Good plan!
Beautiful, Tish
Thank you, Ian.
and a very refreshing walk I’m sure.
It was a good tramp, if v. muddy.
Have you ever come across a pre-Cambrian fossil of bunny on one of your walks?
😉
Now that would be a very exciting item to discover 🙂
Looks a bit nippy and damp. Hope you brought your Wellies.
Wellies were definitely required, though it was weirdly uncold for the time of year.
Beautiful countryside, like that rock formation a dramatic example is at Lulworth Cove but not sure if it’s as old.
Hi Brian. Similar process, but seems to be Jurassic – a mere infant at 80 million years old. Though geological time is a thing hard to grasp, especially after the first million or a glass or two of prosecco.
Beautiful post! Love the photograph!
Many thanks, Kendall
You are welcome, Tish!
I love geology, especially the vertical banding in rock, which I’d never thought of as traveling through time. I live in such a new country, geologically-speaking. The most iconic image of Auckland’s landscape is an island volcano which formed between 6000 and 600 years ago. The last eruption was witnessed and described by local Maori, who named the island Rangitoto — ‘Bloody Sky’
It’s all quite a wonder, isn’t it, however old or young it is. The Maori captured it in those words. Thank you for passing them on. It’s a fantastic image.
Oh you write about geology so beautifully – up there with David Attenborough describing a donkey ride down the Grand Canyon and its journey through time. That first image is so beautiful, both aesthetically and compositionally if one can make that distinction.
I’m still battling to comprehend the movement on tectonic plates. Where exactly was Bermagui when? At the South Pole? 400 kilometres west of its present position? And what does this mean for the formations I’m seeing on the coast now? Maybe a glass of Prosecco would in fact clarify.
You’re so kind, Meg. I truly only grasp the rudiments of geology, so am no help at all re. Bergamui, though there was clearly a lot going on across the Antarctic. In the interim, I think a glass of Prosecco will definitely help clarify matters.
Crisp and refreshing as a post-Christmas walk, thank you.
Happy you enjoyed it too 🙂
Very much enjoyed your brilliant description of the area where you were walking. I just love to read about the geology of an area, so interesting.
What a beautiful walk, Tish, and your photos are gorgeous. I hope you had a wonderful holiday. Happy New Year too!
Many thanks, Cathy, and all the best to you for 2019 – lots more wandering?
Thanks, Tish. Yes, many wanderings planned for 2019: Morocco, Italy, the Dakotas and some parts of Kentucky and Ohio. And hopefully we’ll spend next Christmas in Denver with our sons! 🙂 How about you?
Sounds like plenty of excitement in store then. We’ve no particular plans.
I hope so! I’m sure you’ll come up with something. 🙂
It must have been a nice walk with that beauty of Nature around you Tish.
The Shropshire Hills are very wonderful. We’re very lucky that the Long Mynd is cared for by the National Trust and so open to all.
What a lovely blessing!
Beautiful photos. You capture the essence of your surroundings and more. X
Thank you, Kate.
Beautiful!
Thanks, Jennie 🙂
You’re welcome!
Ah, seems as though the weather hasn’t altered much since we left. Decidedly gloomy in this part of the country too, though yesterday was glorious!
A bit brighter today, but oh so soggy underfoot. Much soddeness at the allotment.
Sodden and all very soggy and brown here 😦
Great post. Fantastic images.
Cheers, Pete. Happy New Year.
Reblogged this on Green, Health & Happiness.
Walking through areas like that always reminds me of my place in the grand scheme of things. A nice addition, but most assuredly not necessary for the continuation of life. 😀
You and me both then 🙂 Happy New Year!
Beautiful mists of time and place.
Thank you, Ann. Happy New Year.
Beautiful place to walk on a misty day. Love the last photo of the roots. 🙂
Thanks, Amy.
Thank you for the walk. I do miss “our” green pastures and woods…
Be good Tish.