Rock Trails Lakeland

Book excerpt: This book explains to the hillwalker, in easy to understand but accurate terms, how geology has shaped the landscape of the Cumbrian Lakeland. A selection of fifteen guided walks are used to illustrate this in terms of what can be seen on the ground. Divided into two parts, Paul describes the view out over the fells and back through time, charting the formation of the Cumbrian Lake District. Factors such as undersea sedimentation, tectonic collisions which heaved up the land, great flows of lava and explosive eruptions which mixed and reformed old rock, catastrophic caldera collapses, freeze/thaw creation of rocky tors, the pointed tops of pikes carved by the flowing glaciers and the human influence of mining and tourism have all contributed to shape the landscape.The second half of the book describes fifteen walks ranging from easy to challenging, with revealing views of the geology.