We are often told (correctly, if somewhat ideologically), that geocaches should take us to somewhere "interesting", and not simply be placed just for the sake of it. My way of helping to adhere to this ideal is to base a cache around details given on an Information Board, plaque or similar feature about the area in which it is situated, or the person / building / location it describes. By definition, it is hoped that this information will be "interesting", and will help the cacher discover things that would often not be revealed by a traditional cache.
The Bytham River
Around half a million years ago, the area around Ryton Pools lay in the valley of the ancient Bytham River. At the time this was possibly the largest river in Britain which flowed from Stratford to the Norfolk coast. As the temperature in Britain dropped, ice sheets in the north began to expand and move southwards towards Bubbenhall.
The ancient rivers were affected by this climate change, and started to deposit the Baginton and Bytham Sands and Gravels. At Bubbenhall up to 8 metres of sand and gravels were deposited. Today these sands and gravels have been extracted for the production of aggregate. The quarrying has revealed important geological and archaeological finds that provide evidence for major climate changes and human habitation during Warwickshire’s Ice Age.
Eventually, the river system disappeared as the ice sheet overwhelmed the area however, at the base of the Waverley Wood Quarry, below the Baginton Sands and Gravels, some very old channels of the ancient river have been discovered. The ice deposited a clay containing pebbles on top of the sands and gravels. This was the Thrussington Till.
Bytham Sand and Gravel formation
The formation encompasses fluvial, lacustrine and organic deposits of the Bytham River. Commonly a basal coarse-grained gravel is overlain by red fine- to medium-grained sand. The gravels are composed of Triassic grey and purple quartzite, vein quartz, Jurassic limestone and ironstone, and Carboniferous sandstone and chert. Sedimentary structures imply deposition in a braided river environment. The gravels are distringuished from the Baginton Sand and Gravel Formation to the west by their including a significant proportion of Jurassic as well as Triassic material.
Baginton Sand and Gravel Formation
The formation encompasses fluvial, lacustrine and organic deposits of the Proto-Soar River. The deposits are sands and gravels, with lenses of silt and clay. In the type area around Coventry, the formation includes gravels overlain by sand. The gravels are up to 98% composed of grey and purple quartzite and vein quartz, largely of Triassic derivation, with a little Jurassic limestone, ironstone and robust fossils. The sands are fine- to medium-grained, clean and well-sorted. They are interpreted as the deposits of low-sinuosity braided rivers dominated by longtitudinal bars. They differ from the Bytham Sand and Gravel Formation by having a low proportion of Jurassic material.
Go to the Interpretation Board at the above co-ordinates to answer these questions:
Thank you to the Dunsmore Living Landscape partnership for placing the new board. You can find out more about them at www.exploredunsmore.org The information board explains the three ice age deposits visible on the slope above Pagets Pool.
Please answer the following to claim your smilie:-
1 Which layer was deposited by the Bytham river?
2 Which layer is a grey stoneless clay?
3 Why did Bubbenhall and Ryton Woods manage to survive as woods?
4 To prove your visit- a) How many wire straight-tusked elephants can you see on the far side of the pool? b) On the nearby bench, which bird may Ron see?
Once you have the answers then message us though our Geocaching profile. Please do not give the answers in your online log. Feel free to log the cache as soon as you have sent your answers and we will try and message you back as soon as possible. Happy Caching!
I hope that you find this an interesting variation on the caching experience. For a full list of all FYI caches in the series, please go to (visit link)
Do you know of any interesting / informative Information Boards? (I'm sure you do!). If you'd like to contribute to the continued expansion of the FYI series, please contact the CO and Series Owner, Airtomoreira, either via the Geocaching website, or at fyigeocaching@outlook.com for a series number, and some general guidelines on placement and the cache description page.