Callander Moraine Traditional Cache
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A recent planning application to extend a gravel quarry near Callander highlighted the unique importance of the area’s ‘hidden’ geology.
Callander moraine, also known as Drumdhu or Auchenlaich moraine straddles the A84 trunk road range of Stirling to Callander. Drumdhu Woods to the north of the road is a popular place for local walkers. But how many of them realise ‘they’re walking on a terminal moraine created by an ancient glacier, part of a family of landforms that mark the southern boundary of the last ice sheet to cover Scotland?
Around 13,000 years ago, the climate in Scotland was mild and life thrived. Then something happened:12,800 years ago the climate changed abruptly, plunging the region into arctic conditions that would persists for more than a thousand years. During that period, known as the loch Lomond Stadial, glaciers advanced across Western Scotland, scraping and scouring rocks across which they travelled, transforming the very shape of the land. In some areas, life was all but obliterated; in others, the distribution of species changed dramatically.
When the ice finally melted around 11,500 years ago, sediments, rocks and organic debris that had been transported by the glaciers were released to create the landscape we see today. Although some local extinctions had occurred, plant and animal life did slowly return. Evidence of human activity in Callander stretches back more that 6,000 years. Notable archaeological sites include a Neolithic long barn and Auchenlaich Cairn just north of the moraine.
Today’s geomorphologists have at their disposal a range of sophisticated techniques that enable them to study landforms with great precision. They have discovered that the earth has experienced not one but many glacial periods that alternated with warmer ‘interglacial’ eras such as the one we enjoy today.
To scientist the beauty of Callander’s cluster of landforms is that they are so well preserved and clearly define where the Loch Lomond Readvance of ice terminated. Callander moraine marks the extent of a glacier’s journey down form the Trossachs via Loch Voil and Loch Lubnaig, and the material bulldozed by the glacier on its long journey is what forms the moraine. If we think of the moraine as that glacier’s final footprint then it is possible to appreciate, by looking at it’s vast sweep, just how enormous the glacier was.
To work out how climate systems interact, evidence must be gathered from around the globe. Unfortunately, human activity has altered or obscured huge swathes of the earth’s surface and so high quality evidence can be hard to come by, especially in industrialised countries such as the UK. Callander’s landforms, which have survived relatively unscathed, are therefore extremely precious. The Loch Lomond Readvance has been the subject of intensive research for more than 30 years and a great deal is now known about it. But what caused it, and whether there are any parallels with changes occurring in our climate systems today, are still unclear. It may take many decades to answer these questions, and so key sites, including those at Callander, need to be preserved not only for research but also for the education of future earth scientists and for those who will benefIt from their work.
Drumdhu Woods are also home to a small colony of our native red squirrels. Although their decline in Scotland is not thought to be linked to climate change, these creatures are, nonetheless, emblematic of the fragility of life. It is thought that only 121,000 red squirrels remain in this country. They are desperately vulnerable, requiring very specific habitats and facing constant competition from grey squirrels, which are more robust and adaptable; and they have no resistance to the squirrel pox virus that can be carried by asymptomatic greys. There are only five or so red squirrels living on Callander moraine but in this context every single one of them counts. Look upwards when visiting the moraine and you will see their dreys.
They day I placed the cache was lovely and the sights, sounds and smells of the pine forest were very enticing.
A google search on the cache title (with two r’s in morraine!) will reveal the full text that I unashamedly stole the above from, it’s quite interesting and worth the read if you’ve got the slightest interest in the geology of Scotland amongst other things.
Stick to the trails and wander randomly through the woods and you’ll see some great views to the north and eventually come across the cache site. The cache is hidden under rocks in the base of a pine tree. Mind the wire!
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