Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Ramsbottom Mountain, is a lump of Fletcher Bank Grit (a type of sandstone) that is situated in the centre of Ramsbottom.
Have you ever wishes for that earthcache that is easy to get to, well this is it. There is easy access for all, including wheelchair users.
Whilst here, why don't you have a walk around Ramsbottom.
Sandstone (sometimes known as arenite) is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains. Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust.
Sandstones are clastic in origin (as opposed to either organic, like chalk and coal, or chemical, like gypsum and jasper).They are formed from cemented grains that may either be fragments of a pre-existing rock or be mono-minerallic crystals.
The formation of sandstone involves two principal stages. First, a layer or layers of sand accumulates as the result of sedimentation, either from water (as in a river, lake, or sea) or from air (as in a desert). Typically, sedimentation occurs by the sand settling out from suspension; i.e., ceasing to be rolled or bounced along the bottom of a body of water (e.g., seas or rivers) or ground surface (e.g., in a desert or erg). Finally, once it has accumulated, the sand becomes sandstone when it is compacted by pressure of overlying deposits and cemented by the precipitation of minerals within the pore spaces between sand grains.
The most common cementing materials are silica and calcium carbonate, which are often derived either from dissolution or from alteration of the sand after it was buried.
Fletcher Bank Grit, belongs to the type of rock known as Millstone Grit. The Millstone Grit dates from the Namurian stage of the Carboniferous period. At this time a series of isolated uplands existed across the British Isles region. One particular east-west aligned landmass stretched from Wales through the English Midlands and East Anglia to the continent and is now known as the Wales-Brabant High though was formerly referred to as St George’s Land. Other uplands the erosion of which would provide the source material for the Millstone Grit lay to the north and northeast of the region. The Pennine Basin received input of sand and mud largely from southerly directed rivers from these northern landmasses.
Rivers running north off the Wales-Brabant High deposited material in the southern parts of the Pennine basin from northeast Wales to the Peak District. Southerly flowing rivers from this same landmass were responsible for the Millstone Grit/Marros Group succession in South Wales.
During much of the Carboniferous period, world sea-levels were fluctuating in response to the growth and decline of a series of major ice-caps over the continents then clustered around the South Pole. Britain lay in the equatorial region. At times of high sea-level, silt and mud accumulated within the Pennine basin whilst at times of low sea-level, major deltas prograded across the region, their legacy being the thick sandstone beds of the Millstone Grit Group.
The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, to the beginning of the Permian Period. The Carboniferous was a time of glaciation, low sea level and mountain building, diversification and extinction; a minor marine and terrestrial extinction event among animals and plants (Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse) occurred in the middle of the period caused by climate change.
The name comes from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing". Many coal beds were laid down globally during this period, hence the name.
The Namurian is a stage in the regional stratigraphy of northwest Europe with an age between roughly 326 and 313 million years ago. It is a subdivision of the Carboniferous system or period and the regional Silesian series. The Namurian is named for the Belgian city and province of Namur where strata of this age occur (part of the Belgian Coal Measures). The Namurian age lasted from 326 to 313 million years ago. It is preceded by the Visean stage/age (which corresponds to the upper Carboniferous Limestone of Great Britain) and succeeded by the Westphalian stage/age (which corresponds to the lower and middle Coal Measures of Great Britain).
Fletcher Bank Grit was formed in the sub-stage of the Namurian known as the Marsdenian.
It is a stone that is used for building, and indeed is quarried across the valley. Manchester Cathedral was built of it.
To log this find, please contact Hillgorilla, with the answers to the following questions:
(1) How tall is the stone.
(2) What does its surface feel like. Shut yours eyes and run your hands over it.
(3) What colour is it.
(4) What does the plaque on the stone commemorate?
(5) Please, as an added option take a picture of yourself or GPS with the stone.
Please enjoy your visit, though be careful, as there is a busy road nearby.
Information about sandstone, millstone grit and namurian gained through an internet search utilising the web page Wikipedia.
Local knowledge gained for the information about Fletcher Bank Grit.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)