What does Colne mean to you? Is it the place that you drive through on the way to the M65, or on the way to Yorkshire? Is it just a name on a road sign? Is it somewhere that you have never been?
Earthcaches are there for us to learn and see, but many of them are off the beaten track, where not all can get to, this is an attempt to try and meet the need of others who are not as able as others.
It is a 
disabled friendly, and 
child friendly cache.
Well at first sight there is not much to see geologically, but peel some layers back, open your mind and eyes, and you will find places of interest.
The co-ordinates take you to Colne Library,well in front of it. Here we have a large sundial, a human sundial.
A sundial is a device that tells the time of day by the apparent position of the sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word it consists of a flat plate (the dial) and a gnomon which casts a shadow onto the dial. As the sun appears to move across the sky, the shadow aligns with different hour-lines which are marked on the dial to indicate the time of day. The style is the time-telling edge of the gnomon, though a single point or nodus may be used. The gnomon casts a broad shadow; the shadow of the style shows the time. The gnomon may be a rod, a wire or an elaborately decorated metal casting, here you are the gnomon.
There are three main types of stone.
Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magman or lava. Igneous rock may form with or without crystallisation. An example is granite.
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the deposition and subsequent cementation of that material at the surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause particles to settle in place. The particles that form a sedimetary rock by accumulating are called sediment. Before being deposited, the sediment was formed by weathering and erosion from the source area, and then transported to the place of deposition. An example of this is sandstone. Sedimentation may also occur as minerals precipitate from water solution or shells of aquatic creatures settle out of suspension, an example of this is limestone.
Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock types, in a process called metamorphism, which means change in form.The original rock is subjected to heat and pressure, causing profound physical and/or chemical change. The original may be a Sedimentary rock, an igneous rock or another older metamorphic rock. Examples include slate and marble.
What we have here is a sedimentary rock known as sandstone, and a metamorphic rock known as granite.
What is Granite?
Granite is a common type of igneous rock. Granite is granular can be described as phaneritic and felsic in texture. Granites can be predominantly white, pink, or gray in color, depending on their mineralogy. By definition, granite is an igneous rock with at least 20% quartz and up to 65% alkali feldspar by volume. Phaneritic is a term usually used to refer to igneous rock grain size. It means that the size of matrix grains in the rock is large enough to be distinguished with the unaided eye as opposed to aphanitic (which are too small to be seen with the naked eye). This texture forms by the slow cooling of magma deep underground in the plutonic environment.
What is Sandstone?
Sandstone, which is 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. Like sand, sandstone may be any color, but the most common colors are: tan, brown, yellow, red, grey, pink, white, and black. Sandstones are formed from cemented grains that may either be fragments of a pre-existing rock or be mono-minerallic crystals. The cements binding these grains together are typically calcite, clays, and silica.
The formation of sandstone involves two principal stages:
(1) First, a layer or layers of sand accumulates as the result of sedimentation, either from water (as in a stream, 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 or ground surface (e.g., in a desert).
(2) 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. Colours will usually be tan or yellow (from a blend of the clear quartz with the dark amber feldspar content of the sand). A predominant additional colourant is iron oxide, which imparts reddish tints ranging from pink to dark red, with additional manganese imparting a purplish hue.
So this is an earthcache, in order for you to log your find, I ask that you complete a series of questions and send them to me, please do not include them in your log. However, please do log when you send your questions.
1.Please feel both rocks, what do they look and feel like? Please tell me what component is granite, and which is sandstone?
2. Please describe the sequence of shapes in the granite slabs at the northern aspect of the sundial face.