The red sand and cliffs at Watcombe in Torquay are the remains of a time around 300 million years ago when Devon was very different. It was near the equator, a sweltering desert. The irons in the rock oxidised, creating the red colour which is still so prominent today. This all seems a little far-fetched on a bleak winter's day....but the evidence is there in those red, red cliffs. We swam out of the bay and headed south along the coastline, where we spotted Smuggler's Hole, which is marked on the Ordnance Survey map. A quite dramatic, large cave at the bottom of a
wonderfully stark cliff. Unfortunately the sea was too rough to go in and explore it.
The red sand and cliffs at Watcombe in Torquay are the remains of a time around 300 million years ago when Devon was very different. It was near the equator, a sweltering desert. The irons in the rock oxidised, creating the red colour which is still so prominent today. This all seems a little far-fetched on a bleak winter's day....but the evidence is there in those red, red cliffs. We swam out of the bay and headed south along the coastline, where we spotted Smuggler's Hole, which is marked on the Ordnance Survey map. A quite dramatic, large cave at the bottom of a 
wonderfully stark cliff. Unfortunately the sea was too rough to go in and explore it.
No comments:
Post a Comment