Chester Pebble Bed EarthCache

The Chester Pebble Beds

The deposits in this bed are thought to have been transported all the way from Brittany, France.

Just as the Nile today flows through the Sahara, a long river flowed in those days northwards through our tropical desert, via Cheshire and out into a sea somewhere beyond the current Irish Sea.

The river carried pebbles with it, when the pebbles stopped moving they became lodged in the sand surrounding them and cemented into place as the sand turned to stone.

The sandstone at this location is approximately 250 million years old, although the pebbles inside it will be much older.

Walk down the track across the road from the Foxcote Tea Rooms, this heads towards Plemstall and the River Gowy.

After a hundred yards or so along this track (a public footpath), you will find the pebble beds on both sides of the track, this is where the fun begins.

In order to log a find against this Earthcache please complete the following questions/tasks and send your answers via email through our profile.

Any finds logged without us receiving an email will be deleted

A photo on your found log is now a logging requirement (EarthCache guidelines) anyone logging a find without a photo will have the log deleted.

1. Now you have arrived at the GZ please explain what you have found.

2. Describe the structure of the sandstone that you are looking at.

3. In the pebble bed you will observe many different pebbles, there are some shiny milky white/purple pebbles, what rock are they formed of?

4. The pebble bed is formed in sandstone, what is another name that the pebble beds are known by?

5. Having carefully observed and touched the pebbles, please describe their texture and also explain how they have got like this

6. Having observed lots of different coloured pebbles in the bed, please find 4 different ones and list the colours in your email

7. In order to evidence that you have visited the location a photo of you/GPS at the GZ must be posted on the find log.