We were happy to welcome Wellington Heath Gardening Club to the quarry at the start of June.  While several members have been regular visitors since the start of the project, it was new to others and some did not even know the quarry existed!

We mustered at the hall and took in the rocks, the views and other people’s gardens as we made our way to the quarry.

Wellington Heath gardeners discuss the quarry

Once there, Andy gave a short talk on where the land was at the time the rocks were deposited and how, at the time, the land had little or no vegetation. One of the earliest land plants was found at Perton Quarry nearby and Andy showed everyone a modern sample of an ancient moss from his garden in the village.

We also spoke about how glaciation had stripped off the surface which means that the local soils are influenced by the bedrock and local changes. This shows in the bands of clay soils as well as changes of colour across the village. It also means that we can use wild plants, such as spurge laurel, as indicators of the underlying rock types.

There was time to look more closely at the rocks and discuss Geology and gardening before returning to the hall.

June 2024