Walk with an expert...

Have you ever wondered what has shaped the landscape here? Northumberland and the Borders have a treasure chest of rocks telling so many different stories in a landscape of extraordinary beauty. Northumbrian Earth has been set up to explore and tell these stories, to the local communities, to visitors and to businesses. You can explore these stories, walking out into our beautiful coast and countryside, and looking at the rocks in the company of Dr Ian Kille, an expert and enthusiast on all things geological.

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The first of the geowalks for 2024 are now up in the geowalks section with more to come.

As last year, these walks are all bookable to ensure that the number of people attending is manageable so that I can make it as good an experience as I can for everyone. I will be trialling a of “pay-what-you-feel”. I respectfully suggest £15 for the half day events and £20 for the full day events. If this is not affordable for you – pay less – no questions asked. Equally, if you are able to pay more, this will help me to ensure the walks are sustainable. As before, family members under 16 are very welcome and can come for free. The geowalks start on the Northumberland Coast, celebrating the geodiversity of the Northumberland Coast AONB, and will include some new locations. As last year these will be mixed in with some walks further north on the coast exploring the glorious landscape and geology of the Berwickshire Coast.  In addition there will be some walks in the Tynemouth area as well as a series of walks exploring the geology of St Cuthbert's Way.

As always there will be many fabulous rocks and fossils to find all set in the glorious land and seascape of the AONB and the Berwickshire Coast. In addition there will be a walk suported by Sunderland Council for the Heritage Open Days which I am leading, exploring the geology of Bishopwearmouth which includes the epic concretionary limestone. 

More walks will be added as the summer progresses with a schedule of walks going on into October.

The new, fully updated edition of the Northumberland Coast Rocks! including a new set of maps and artwork, is still available. To order a copy just email me and payment can be sorted either by bank transfer or by cheque. I also anticipate having the 2nd edition of the Berwick Coast Rocks! book out during the summer.

The rocks in Northumberland and the Borders are ancient. They are as rich in interest as those of the Dorset coast but much older and speak of a time when amphibians and giant insects were the height of evolution. By looking at the cycles of rock on the coast we can build a picture of seas filled with corals, sea lilies and brachiopods and vast deltas including swamps crowded with giant tree ferns. Come and join one of Ian's regular walks and start exploring this ancient world.

Bamburgh Castle and Lindisfarne Castle sit on top of black crags which are all part of the Whin Sill. Along the beautiful exposures of this unique feature on the coast we can look at how this vast slug of molten rock was injected between the sheaves of sedimentary rock. Away from the coast the grand range that is the Cheviot marks the bare roots of an ancient volcano.