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This site is in Walsall, part of the north West Midlands in
England. Here, the rocks are Triassic in age, and are aeolian sandstone.
Features here include cross bedding, river channels, faulting, fining up,
conglomerate layers, and wildlife features such as holes made by solitary bees.
These rocks are around 250 million years old, and represent a time when Britain
was a dry, sandy desert.
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| A shot of the rockface |
I first visited this site in November 2016, with a friend
from university. We had decided to go on a Black Country Geomooch, and we
visited four sites of geological interest. The quarry at Barr Beacon is called
Pinfold Quarry, and is part of the Black Country Geopark. It is site number 003.
The rockface itself is a glorious rich red, the tell-tale sign of the presence
of iron in the rock. Samples can easily be gathered from the floor. It is not
wise to hammer the rock face as it is steep and liable to breaking. This exposure
of sandstone forms part of the Birmingham Sandstone Ridge, which can be traced
through Birmingham to the south. The University of Birmingham campus in
Edgbaston sits atop this ridge, which is why it is higher than the surrounding
student-ville of Selly Oak. This sandstone is also the main aquifer unit under
Birmingham, but it is too polluted by past industry to be used as a source of
water. Consequently, Birmingham’s drinking water comes from Wales.
Barr Beacon itself is one of the highest points around here;
supposedly there is nothing between this point and the Ural Mountains of the
same height. There is a monument at the top which houses a toposcope. This housing
is made from Portland Stone, and fossils can be seen within the columns, slabs
and steps. This stone is Jurassic in age, around 147 million years old. This stone
is used extensively for buildings; a lot of central Birmingham and London is
made with Portland Stone. There is a meadow area at this site, which has had enhancement works done by the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham & the Black Country.
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