CCGCOVER10.3.09.indd 1 CCGCOVER10.3.09.indd 10/3/09 17:53:43 10/3/09 Not to scale to Not Unconformity Fault Fault Hopwood Hopwood Fault Tixall Tixall Boundary Boundary Basin Basin Cannock Chase Cannock Cover Photograph: Source of the Sher Brook Sher the of Source Photograph: Cover 370080 01782 Tel: Services Print MC by Printed Eastern Eastern Needwood Needwood Stafford warnings EAST WEST consider other people. Please adhere to all Forestry Commission instructions and and instructions Commission Forestry all to adhere Please people. other consider protect plants and animals and take your litter home. Keep dogs under control and and control under dogs Keep home. litter your take and animals and plants protect Not to scale to Not safe, plan ahead and follow any signs; leave gates and property as you find them; them; find you as property and gates leave signs; any follow and ahead plan safe, Remember to follow the country code and please do not hammer rock surfaces. Be Be surfaces. rock hammer not do please and code country the follow to Remember www.staffs-wildlife.org.uk Staffordshire Wildlife Trust – – Trust Wildlife Staffordshire www.esci.keele.ac.uk/nsgga North Staffordshire Group Geologists’ Association – – Association Geologists’ Group Staffordshire North Unconformity Valley www.staffs-rigs.org.uk Staffordshire RIGS – RIGS Staffordshire Trent Little Haywood Little phological sites in Staffordshire. For more information contact: information more For Staffordshire. in sites phological Old Park Old Cannock Chase Cannock Beaudesert Beaudesert - geomor and geological important regionally of conservation the for responsible Castle Ring Castle A member of UKRIGS, the Staffordshire RIGS Group is a voluntary organisation organisation voluntary a is Group RIGS Staffordshire the UKRIGS, of member A SOUTH NORTH • Cannock Chase Mining Historical Society Historical Mining Chase Cannock • Schematic geological sections across Cannock Chase Chase Cannock across sections geological Schematic • Staffordshire County Council County Staffordshire • • Forestry Commission Forestry • • Cannock Chase District Council District Chase Cannock • • National Trust Trust National • beneath Morecombe Bay form a reservoir for natural gas. natural for reservoir a form Bay Morecombe beneath • Cannock Chase ANOB Unit ANOB Chase Cannock • Survey Geological British • This unit has been used as a building stone and equivalent rocks rocks equivalent and stone building a as used been has unit This The Staffordshire RIGS Group gratefully acknowledges the support of: support the acknowledges gratefully Group RIGS Staffordshire The becoming meandering in nature as the mountains subsided. subsided. mountains the as nature in meandering becoming Rosie Duncan Rosie . by Design Group. pebbles, indicating a decline in energy in the Triassic rivers, rivers, Triassic the in energy in decline a indicating pebbles, Grant Scheme 2008. Text and photographs by members of the Staffordshire RIGS RIGS Staffordshire the of members by photographs and Text 2008. Scheme Grant The overlying Bromsgrove Sandstone is finer grained and lacks lacks and grained finer is Sandstone Bromsgrove overlying The shire RIGS Group with financial support from the Staffordshire Aggregates Levy Levy Aggregates Staffordshire the from support financial with Group RIGS shire Formation is both an important source of aggregates and water. and aggregates of source important an both is Formation Richard Waller Richard Stimpson Ian - Stafford the of behalf on and by managed project A making, pink rhyolites and black basalts. The Kidderminster Kidderminster The basalts. black and rhyolites pink making, ham g Birmin Birmingham Brittany. Other pebbles include white vein quartz used in glass glass in used quartz vein white include pebbles Other Brittany. Wolverhampton have been found to contain fossils from the Ordovician period of of period Ordovician the from fossils contain to found been have Cannock 12 believed to have originated there and very rare limestone pebbles pebbles limestone rare very and there originated have to believed m k 5 0 5 A d lfor Te liver coloured quartzite pebbles are are pebbles quartzite coloured liver 1 Pitted pebble Pitted located in Northern France. The The France. Northern in located Hazelslade 2 1 4 0 P Ring 3 5 flowing northwards from mountains mountains from northwards flowing B A Castle deposited in a large braided river river braided large a in deposited Penkridge pebbly Kidderminster Formation was was Formation Kidderminster pebbly A460 to the northern desert latitudes. The The latitudes. desert northern the to By the Triassic, Britain had moved moved had Britain Triassic, the By mworth Ta 6 extensively mined on the southern margin of the Chase. Chase. the of margin southern the on mined extensively 1 5 M A y lle Va ironstone bands have been been have bands ironstone 3 1 Birches Birches P Boulder 5 A 11 These coals, and associated associated and coals, These Spoil heaps Spoil Rugeley Glacial Desert, Swamp and Ice and Swamp Desert, 13 P were compressed to form coal. coal. form to compressed were Chase surface, the remains of which which of remains the surface, 1 A Landscape Evolved from from Evolved Landscape A 4 Cannock 3 A5 Brocton A allowed plants to colonise the the colonise to plants allowed t Newpor P Centre 9 4 P lseley Wo 4 top delta the of emergence A A 5 1 Colwich A 5 1 3 8 lying muddy delta. Periodic Periodic delta. muddy lying Quarry Hills Satnall Geotrail near to the equator in a low- a in equator the to near Stafford Haywood and ironstones were deposited deposited were ironstones and 6 Great Great M coals muds, Carboniferous The A 5 1 8 rocks were deformed, uplifted and eroded. and uplifted deformed, were rocks Cannock Chase Chase Cannock 4 1 N 3 5 14 A A separated by a 60 million year unconformity during which the older older the which during unconformity year million 60 a by separated 3 1 0 5 Upper Carboniferous Coal Measures (314-312 million years old) old) years million (314-312 Measures Coal Carboniferous Upper A eston W l Eccleshal Triassic Period (here 250-245 million years old). These overlie the the overlie These old). years million 250-245 (here Period Triassic GEOTRAIL Stone The rocks of Cannock Chase belong predominantly to the the to predominantly belong Chase Cannock of rocks The The The me Ly r- -unde Newcastle LOCATION MAP LOCATION GEOLOGY GEOTRAIL DIRECTIONS GEOMORPHOLOGY The trail is probably too long to be completed in one go so we Castle Ring – Slitting Mill 18-32 Cannock Chase comprises an undulating plateau 150-250m recommend attempting it in sections. Alternative routes making in elevation that stands proud of the surrounding valleys. Its shorter circuits are shown in italics. We advise visitors to use this trail From the view point 18 prominence reflects the combined influence of tectonic processes guide in conjunction with the Ordnance Survey Explorer Map 244 as continue on to the far corner of (earth movements) and surface denudation (by wind, water and the proliferation of tracks on Cannock Chase can make navigation Castle Ring. Turn left downhill ice). Tectonic processes resulted in the local uplift of Triassic difficult.Take care crossing all roads. and then immediately right sandstones (see cross-sections). These rocks are harder and along the path parallel to the more resistant than the mudstones of the surrounding area and Satnall Hills – Glacial Boulder 1-6 fence 19 then forking left on subsequent differences in the rates of weathering and erosion From Satnall Hills Quarry 1 car park, cross the A513, taking extreme the main path. Continue down, have further accentuated the relief. care, and take the footpath at the far end of the Punch Bowl car park. and cross the Red Brook 20. The episodic growth and retreat of the British Ice Sheet over the The valley passes Harts Hill 2. Follow the footpath straight ahead Take the track to the left at last 2 million years has had a dramatic impact on the landscape. to Mere Pool 3. Here, take the narrow track straight on upwards the marker post, continuing Eastern Boundary Fault 22 Whilst the Glacial Boulder 7 demonstrates the ability of glaciers to forking left after the initial ascent to Broc Hill 4. Continue straight on on and straight across the transport material down to the bottom of the Mere Valley and go right to Brook Lane. road 21. Carry straight on, keeping the ridge to your right eventually long distances, Follow Brook Lane to the left. At the T-junction, turn left back onto heading downhill 22 & 23, over a stream and follow the valley to the glacial meltwater the Chase. After 300m, take the track right and continue straight on right, emerging on a spoil heap 24. Go straight on to the Brereton- has generated the to Milford Quarry 5 & 6. Go back past 5 and take the first path on the Ravenhill Way for 50m and take the path to the left up to the road most impressive right around the top of Milford Quarry to Freda’s Grave car park. Turn bend 25. Follow the bridle path on the opposite side of the road on landforms. Both the left then immediately right at the signpost along the Heart of England your left into the Victoria Mound quarries 26. prominent valley Way, taking the right fork after 250m to the Glacial Boulder. Retrace your steps to the Brereton-Ravenhill Way and follow it to the linking Rugeley and left, crossing Colliery Road 27. Continue to the end of the business Cannock 13, 31 and Glacial Boulder – Birches Valley 7-10 parks 28 and fork right to the outskirts of Rugeley 29. Turn left along a series of deeply- Coppice Lane for 400m and take the right fork uphill. Continue From the Glacial Boulder 7, head away from the car park towards a incised channels straight ahead across the minor road and across the main A460 31 Misfit river signpost on the Heart of England Way and turn right to follow it.