This time the central part of the ridge was the target, where surprisingly little bedrock was exposed. However, after several hours of rock hunting, David stepped into Derek’s shoes admirably and showed his skills at Raw Head and Bickerton Hill. Raw Head proved particularly challenging (not including having to avoid the local fox hunt on route) given David and Matt had to clamber atop a block that had slumped from the main outcrop and was hanging precariously above the valley below. After a long and cold morning of walking the ridge, we were met for lunch by Geoff Thomas at the aptly-named pub “The Sandstone”. Along with a rather large lunch, Rich crumbled under the slightest of peer-pressure to enjoy a pint of “Scrum Down” (BRITICE-CHRONO approved beer1) with the rest of us.Luckily, after lunch the fully-awake and motivated team were able to expend their excess energy with a couple of steep hikes. The first proved fruitless as we discovered on arrival at the outcrop that it had been heavily quarried. Thankfully, the second hike to the head of the very deeply incised meltwater channel that is Peckforton Gapproduced something we could sample. After another successful day, Matt was finally able to break the habit and navigate us home without any major detours.

Excellent lunch stop

Deeply incised meltwater channel at Hawkstone Park.

Cautious bedrock sampling at Hawkstone Park.

DAY 3:Southern sector

Ahead only lowland Shropshire and the Severn basin

Day 3 began with a long drive to the most southern extent of the ridge in Shropshire where the team were