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Hardcastle Crags gets its name from the millstone grit stacks which loom
over the valley past the mill in an area not covered by this walk but
small outcrops of the rock can be seen through the trees along the way
high up on the valley side.
Millstone grit rock is a type of sandstone. It is a sedimentary
rock, formed by the deposition of sand or clay particles in deltas, flood
plains, deltas or the sea around 300 million years ago. At this time the
area which was to become Britain was situated near the equator.
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| Overhanging rocks |
This is one of several quarries found in Hardcastle Crags.
The stone from such small quarries was used for nearby domestic and industrial
buildings. When pack horses or ox carts were the main means of transport
only a small amount of stone could be carried away from a quarry at any
one time so transport was a significant part of the cost of building materials.
The gritstone is very soft and would have had to have been dug out by
hand using a chisel to split the rock.
A huge amount of water runs off the rock from the hillside
above contributing to the wet, acid conditions that are characteristic
of this woodland. Look out for plants like the wood-rushes which thrive
particularly in oak woodlands on acid soil. Their seeds contain an oil
to which ants are particularly attracted - there'll be much more on ants
later on in the walk.
You will see plenty of examples along the way of the
plant with the pretty pink flower. This is the Himalayan Balsam which
also thrives in wet conditions. This has become a real problem throughout
the Calder Valley as it a very vigorous plant which seeds itself very
readily, quickly overshadowing the natural flora of the area and there
are fears this could result in a monoculture of Himalayan Balsam.
...Continue along the path entering an area of big
trees with a real Jurassic Park feel about them
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