Beacon Park Earth Cache
Dating back to the late 1800s, Beacon Park is set in more than 70 acres of beautiful formal gardens and open space. Beacon Park, Minster Pool and Walk, and the Garden of Remembrance underwent extensive renovation in 2010 and 2011, thanks to a multi-million pound grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund. The project, led by Lichfield District Council and Lichfield City Council, helped to restore these areas
Car parking is also available and there are designated disabled spaces in all three of Beacon Park’s car parks.
To find out more about Beacon Park, visit the Historic Parks website
The Geology
Limestones are made mostly of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the form of the minerals calcite or aragonite, that contains an abundance of fossils or fossil traces. The fossils in these rocks may be of macroscopic or microscopic size. The sort of macroscopic fossils often include crinoid stems, corals, brachiopods, gastropods, and other hard shelled mollusk remains.
In some cases, microfossils such as siliceous diatom shells in deposition may convert overtime to opal and chert, providing the only inferred evidence of bioactivity preserved in limestone.
To claim this Earth cache please answer the following questions:
- Inside the circular railed play area there are a number of stepping stones. How many stones are there at this location? You do not need to enter the play area to do this as a path around the play area gives easy viewing.
- There are a number of boulders around the area outside of the railed play area. Describe the rocks along the following lines:
- Colour?
- Grain size and what are the grains made of?
- Would you say the rocks well lithified or more friable?
- What sort of rock is this? Sedimentary, Metamorphic or Igneous? and give your reasons for this. The optional extra as usual, please post a photo but do not show a close up of or show the number of stones. How about a picture on your favorite piece of play ground equipment? Please message me your answers.