reading rocks
Geologist and writer Ian Jackson reads a selection of stories from pages of his five books about northern rocks and their connections with our landscape ….and us. The stories of this first series – Time travelling - begin almost 500 million years ago and end with the Roman conquest of the north.
reading rocks
Latest Episodes
Rocks, ripples and reformers
There can’t be another short walk in the country where you can search out the fossil plants and animals from hundreds of millions of years ago including the oldest recorded amphibian footprints, walk across evidence of ancient earthquakes, touc...
Time-travelling by train Carlisle to Newcastle - part 3
This the final part of this rail journey from close to the west coast of England to the east coast, starts in Hexham and finishes in Newcastle upon Tyne. On the way there's a little discussion about geological maps and their availability and ac...
Time-travelling by train – Carlisle to Newcastle part 2
We got as far as Brampton station last time. We have changed bedrock from the red Triassic sandstones of the west to 335 to 310 million year old Carboniferous strata – a repeating mix of layers of sandstone, shale, limestone and coal. A product...
Time-travelling by train - Carlisle to Newcastle - Part 1
Our journey starts in Carlisle and heads east. In a nutshell in terms of bedrock geology we begin on rock that is around 250 million years old from the Triassic period and as we head eastward travel over progressively older rocks crossing into ...
