Pooh Geowalk In Ashdown Forest
Led by Brian Harvey and Sue Hay
18th April 2004
Chapter 1 In Which We
Are Introduced
“It
rained and it rained and it rained”.
And it
did. And the wind blew the rain across the car park where we met in the middle
of Ashdown Forest for the start of our 15th
Anniversary Geowalk. In fact the weather was so bad a few people decided that
their health was more important than geology – strange people! Still, the
remainder were not deterred and, like Christopher Robin, put on their big boots
and opened umbrellas and did not allow the weather to get them down.
So we
repaired to the scant shelter of the nearby stand of trees to hear Brian
introduce the walk and to remind us of the history of the Pooh Geowalks. Brian
explained that he was there to show us the geology and topography and to tell us
something of the history of the area and Sue was to talk about the more
important topic of the Winnie-the-Pooh and the Enchanted Places of Ashdown
Forest.
After a
while we could not put it off any longer and we had to brave the weather and set
off on our Expodition.
Chapter 2 In Which We
Find A Heffalump Trap
“Pooh’s
first idea was that they should dig a Very Deep Pit
and then the Heffalump would come along
and fall
into the Pit, and –”
The
particular part of the forest we started our walk towards was labeled on the map
as “Five Hundred Acre Wood”, but we all knew it was really the “100 Aker Wood”.
Soon we
were walking on tracks through the lightly wooded areas with Brian ready and
willing to describe the geology, topology and history of the area. The 6,400
acres of the Ashdown forest is the remains of the Lancaster Great Deer park,
which was originally enclosed by a pale in 1296. Little of the original forest
remains since the native trees were used in the smelting of iron derived from
the Weald Clay, although Scots pines where introduced in the 1800’s. Complete
reforestation has been prevented, until recent years, through the actions of the
sheep formerly grazed in the forest by the Commoners. Management of the forest
is undertaken by the Board of Conservators who are changed with “preserving the
forest as a quite & natural area of outstanding beauty.”
Ashdown
Forest is located in the High Weald and most of the time we were walking on the
Hastings Beds, the lowest group in the Cretaceous sediments of the Weald, and in
the main we stayed on one formation, the Ashdown Beds. Unfortunately, as the
weather was so foul Brian was unable to show us the exposures he would have
liked as most of them were on slippery slopes and it was also too cold to hang
about.
As we
walked, Sue drew our attention to an overgrown hollow beside the track. There
was some speculation whether it might have been a saw pit or material may have
been removed for building. However, it was soon correctly identified as Pooh and
Piglet’s heffalump trap and we wandered on.
Chapter 3 In Which We
Discover The North Pole
“And
we must all bring Provisions.”
As we
walked, we kept our eyes open for any other Pooh related sites and sounds. Sue
was able to assist with her encyclopaedic knowledge of the world of
Winnie-the-Pooh, Christopher Robin and A.A.Milne. The identification of the
various Pooh locations in the area comes from Christopher Robin Milne’s book “The
Enchanted Places”
and the
popularity of the stories has ensured that a significant tourist trade has
developed in the area, although this mainly centres round the gift shop and the
Pooh Sticks bridge (the shop sells directions to the bridge in many languages).
Soon we
entered a more thickly wooded area, and dropped down towards a stream flowing
through it. The stream gave an opportunity to view some exposed geology and soon
after we realised that Christopher Robin, Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Wol, Eeyore,
Tigger, Kanga, Roo and Rabbit’s Friends and Relations had been there before us
because there it was – the absolutely genuine North Pole! We knew it was the
North Pole because there was Pooh’s sign!
Luckily
none of us emulated Roo by falling in and as the rain had stopped we decided to
stop for lunch and so we perched on some felled timber beside the stream we
munched our way through our Provisions.
Chapter 4 In Which We
Play Pooh Sticks
“Come on
stick! Stick, stick, stick!”
After
lunch we made our way onwards towards the world famous Pooh Sticks Bridge. Our
leaders had warned us to stock up on sticks before walking down to the bridge -
other players had denuded the ground of every loose bit of wood that could be
described as a stick long since.
So, armed
with a variety of playing sticks we arrived at the Pooh bridge, still looking
very much like the E.H. Shepherd illustration. Of course, most of us were able
to lean over the top rail to play - something not even Christopher Robin was
able to do. Soon we were all absorbed in the wonderful pastime of Pooh Sticks,
with members rushing from one side of the bridge to the other like the children
that all OUGS members are at heart.
Chapter
5 In Which We Say Farewell
“But
wherever they go, and whatever happens to
them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top
of the Forest a little boy and his Bear will always be
playing.”
All too
soon we were on our way again, in increasingly better conditions and we started
to rise again away from the water towards the top of forest. We started to get
more distant views as we left the more wooded parts and came out on the more
open heath like parts.
The final
stretch of the walk (the traditional final push uphill) lead at last to Galleons
Lap, the enchanted place of the final chapter of The House at Pooh Corner. Here
we had also come to the final chapter of our geowalk. By the stone and plaque
placed there to commemorate the Bear and his creator, the immortal A.A. Milne, we
said our thank you’s to our to leaders and made a small presentation. And then
it was time to make our way back to our vehicles to change and to go home after
a thoroughly enjoyable experience, despite the horrible start.
Paul
Hetherington
All
quotations from “Winnie-the-Pooh” and “The House at Pooh Corner” by A.A. Milne.
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Field Trip to Barton On Sea
Led by Paul Clasby
15th May 2004
We are
fortunate in having Paul Clasby as one of our members. Paul will be familiar to
many of the London Branch who have attended the S236 or S260 revision days that
the committee runs annually at Royal Holloway. Paul tutors on the fossils and
always brings along his ‘favourite specimen’. This is a large gastropod
Clavilithes macropspira
that has
an environmental tale to tell. He also brings along rare examples of
Crassatella sulcata;
rare, because they have survived with the two valves intact. These specimens
come from Barton-on-Sea, near where Paul lives, and over the years he has built
up a fabulous collection of his local fossils. Paul has been very generous with
his time and has frequently led London Branch on collecting trips to Barton.
Saturday 15 May was one such occasion: a glorious day which 16 of us spent
pottering along the beach extracting fossils from the slumped clay. For those
interested in molluscs this is a real haven with hundreds of species of bivalves
and gastropods, usually with excellent preservation.
The clay
here is very slumped. In the past we have walked to the beach from the Barton
end of the section and then west down the section to Highcliffe, then back along
the shoreline looking for sharks’ teeth. This time we did it in reverse as
disastrous cliff falls at the Barton end have made access there very difficult.
The advantage in doing it this way round is that from Highcliffe there is an
excellent view of the cliffs, and despite the severe slumping, it is possible to
make out the dip of the beds to the east. I was sorry to see that the
explanatory board was no longer readable. It looked as if it was completely
faded rather than vandalised. It would be good to see it replaced.
When we
set off we could see the Needles over on the Isle of Wight in the distance but
by lunch-time they had disappeared behind the haze. This did not deter the
bikini-clad sunbathers along the beach. Several of them and their offspring were
curious to see what we were up to with our rucksacks, big boots and trowels. And
I am sorry to say that it was the non-OU students who found the best specimens.
First prize goes to Pari Collis’ husband, Cliff, who found a spectacular
specimen of
Volutospina luctator,
about 11
cm long and very spiny. As a bonus it was encrusted by a small oyster . Various
children along the way also found good specimens of this genus of gastropod
though none competed for size. Cliff, Pari and a couple of others had
misunderstood the instructions and had started from the Barton end. We met them
mid-way looking very muddy but very excited by the prize gastro. The second best
find was another big gastropod
Clavilithes longaevus,
similar to Paul’s favourite, but a different, rarer, species. This was found by
one of the sunbather brigade that I had been showing our finds to only five
minutes earlier! It came from a ledge (hardened, as it happens) beneath the
in situ
exposure
of Bed C, bounded by septarian nodules. It was totally unsquashed and much
coveted! I gave him a box and tissues so I hope he looks after it. One of our
group, Ursula Scott, I think, found part of a squashed specimen of the more
familiar
Clavilithes macrospira
in much
the same place. Paul was impressed by the finding of a
Sycostoma bulbus.
This species of gastropod is rare, unlike the more common
Sycostoma pyrus
of which
I saw several relatively small specimens.
Towards
the end of the day Joanne Cassidy set the trend by sitting on the shingle and
combing through it for sharks’ teeth. Suddenly a joyous cry emanated from her as
she jumped up and danced around clutching a whopper. It was even larger than the
one found by a sun-bather shortly before. Her patience was rewarded by several
more teeth, a vertebra, an ear-bone of a fish (otolith) and a piece of turtle
shell, and surprisingly, several nice, unworn gastropods. Dee Summers was also
very excited about her very pointy sharks’ teeth. Dee had taken Paul’s advice
and found them by walking down the shore line. I am sure that there were other
good finds that I didn’t set eyes on. Certainly many people found sharks’ teeth.
My own finds were very paltry in comparison, and none of the coveted teeth. More
than one of the party commented to me that such a day makes you glad to be
alive and I would certainly go along with that! Thank you Paul for leading us,
and thanks to Iain Fletcher for making it happen.
Di
Clements
PS for
anyone wanting to learn more can I recommend two web-site addresses:
www.dmap.co.uk/fossils for
excellent colour photos for fossil identification and
www.soton.ac.uk/~imw/barton.htm
for detailed geology.
Geology
of Barton-on-Sea,
Hampshire
This is a
classic locality for fossil collecting, and it is well worth a visit. It is on
the south coast of England, 13 kilometres (8 miles) east of Bournemouth. The
fossils are mostly marine shells, about 40 million years old. Over 600 species
of fossils have been found, including over 200 species of gastropod (snails).
The
collecting area is a section of coastal cliffs about 1½ km long and 30 metres
high, above a sandy beach. The cliffs are made of clay, from which the fossils
can be removed quite easily. They also show quite impressive landslips along the
whole length, with a rate of retreat of about a metre a year. This creates a
succession of terraces made of soft mud, easily trapping the unwary visitor.
Along the top of the Barton cliffs are the much younger Pleistocene river
gravels and brickearth.
Access to
the beach is easiest from a public car park (grid reference SZ 216 933) on the
cliff-top at Highcliffe, just west of Barton. To reach it, turn into Waterford
Road (signposted “To the sea”) leading south off the main A337 road. The charge
for parking (in 2004) was £3.80 for the day. From here a broad footpath leads
down to the beach. Equipment needed for the trip includes wellies if going onto
the clay (but if not, then walking boots are quite adequate), a hand trowel and
collecting bags/pots. The sizes of most of the shells are between 1 cm and 4 cm.
Once on the beach, a reasonable collection of fossils may be made simply by
keeping on the sand and examining the adjacent low clay bluff. Venturing onto
the clay terraces cannot be recommended.
These
cliffs expose the dark grey marine clay deposits of the Barton Clay Formation,
of Upper Eocene age. The Formation is 46 metres thick and dips to the east at a
very gentle angle, 1 to 2 degrees. It has been divided into a series of beds,
each given an identifying letter. The exposed section runs from A2 near the base
in the west, to I (“eye”) on the western edge of Barton (beds G to I are in the
overlying Becton Sand Formation — formerly the Barton Sand).
The
individual beds are not easy to tell apart on the first (or second) visit, with
the variations being in sand content and glauconite (and fossils too). The main
marker in the sequence is formed by a pair of horizons, 1.8 metres apart, with
light green concretions at least ½ metre long. These mark Bed C. Another
concretionary horizon 7.5 metres higher up (by the Barton sea defences) marks
the top of Bed E, 1½ m thick and notably rich in fossils: mostly the thin spiral
shells of the genus Haustator (formerly called Turritella). The ‘conch’ shell
Volutospina seems typical of the lower beds, with Haustator and the ‘smooth
pointy snail’ Sycostoma in the upper beds. Shark teeth can best be found near
the Highcliffe end of the beach, in the patches of gravel revealed when the tide
is low, having been concentrated there by wave action.
The
overall environment here 40 million years ago was like that of present-day
Indonesia. There was a shallow shelf sea (with the coastline close to the north)
and it had a sub-tropical climate, although at a latitude around 40 degrees
north. Later, the shallow sea gradually silted up, becoming lagoons and then
land.
References:
1.
“The
Barton Beds” (two pages by Paul S. Clasby, unpublished?)
2.
www.soton.ac.uk/~imw/barton.htm
(for details of the geology)
3.
www.dmap.co.uk/fossils (for
excellent photographs of all? the Barton fossils, and others)
4.
“British
Cenozoic Fossils” fossil identification book by the Natural History Museum
5.
“Field
Guide to Barton on Sea” handout by Paul Jeffery for OUGS field trip 20 May 1990.
Iain
Fletcher
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