Back on the hill top, find the vertical fault plane cutting through the rocks - it shows as a white ridge just below and left of the view point.

Thin veins of quartz

The surface of the fault was polished by the action of the two rock surfaces sliding past each other. Striations on the fault plane surface are known as 'slickensides' and they point to the direction of slip of the fault.

The underlying rocks across the whole region from the Pennines to Snowdonia were affected by the tectonic movements associated with the final opening of the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and North America about 60 million years ago. Many of the smaller faults caused by these stresses and strains show up on the path as thin parallel veins of a harder white material, quartz, which is more resistant to erosion than the sandstone.

Take a rest on the bench

The quartz has crystallized from solution in water flowing through the sandstone. Minerals that have crystallized within sediments, turning them into a sedimentary rock, determine how tough the rock will be; in the case of the Thurstaston Hard Bed, this quartz is the cementing mineral.

From the hill top, return down the path to the car park - take care on the steps.