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Geopark Way circular trail – Alfrick and the Suckley Hills

This 5 mile trail begins on ground underlain by Triassic rocks before climbing Crews Hill onto the Silurian aged rocks of the Suckley Hills. The trail then traverses a variety of sedimentary rock types, all of Silurian age, on its way towards and through the Knapp and Papermill Nature Reserve. From the reserve, the route recrosses Triassic rocks an its return to Alfrick church. The trail visits the former aggregate sites on the Suckley Hills ridge-line and also explores evidence of the aggregate quarries in the Knapp and Papermill nature reserve.

 

 

 

 

Geopark Way circular trail – Martley

This 6 mile walking trail takes you through the contrasting landscapes of the rural Worcestershire parish of Martley. The trail begins on ground underlain by Triassic sandstones before passing onto Silurian aged rocks in the hamlet of Kingswood. From here,  the route traverses a variety of Silurian aged rocks on its way up and over Pudford and Rodge Hills. Descending Rodge Hill and travelling east, the trail revisits Triassic rocks before encountering a ‘Fossil Hunt’ around Penny Hill. The final section of the trail follows a pleasant route back to St Peter’s church. in places theis route skirts around a line of former limestone aggregate quarries.

 

 

 

Geopark Way circular trail – Mathon and the Malvern Hills

This 9 mile trail begins with a walk over the Precambrian rocks of the Malvern Hills before heading west down to West Malvern. From here the path continues westwards across ridge and vale topography created by the underlying Silurian rocks. Upon reaching Mathon the trail turns south-west, revealing evidence of the long-gone River Mathon. The trail visits former hard rock aggregate quarries on the Malvern Hills, as also on the hills around Mathon; these feature along with the sand and gravel pits in Mathon parish. To download the trail guide, click here.

 

 

 

 

/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/agg-booklet-e1301383313886.jpgExploring aggregates along the Geopark Way

This 48 page booklet takes a look at the aggregates industry as a whole, before exploring the industry within the Abberley and Malvern Hills Geopark.

The first third of the booklet explores the facts and figures of the aggregates industry on a global and U.K level looking into the positive and negative elements of the industry. The remainder of the booklet concentrates on the aggregates industry within the Geopark (most of which is historical rather than current). After an overview of this history, the booklet then details nine former aggregate sites located either on or in close proximity to the Geopark Way trail. These nine sites reflect the diversity in geology, size, age and post-extraction use of the aggregate quarries found along the Geopark Way trail.

The nine sites are:

  • Eardington Sand and Gravel Pits
  • Raggits Hill Quarry
  • Callow Hill Quarry
  • Hartlebury Common Gravel Pits
  • Penny Hill Quarry
  • Martley Pit
  • Whitmans Hill Quarry
  • Malvern Hills quarries/Chase End Quarry
  • Huntley Quarry

Each site in the booklet gives an overview of the geology followed with details on the quarrying history at the site and the post extraction/current use of the former quarry site.