The Festival, launched in April 2021 formed part of the wildlife charity’s 50th anniversary celebration this year
The book has been designed and written by Northumberland Wildlife Trust trustee and geologist Ian Jackson, the man behind the Rock Festival.
Titled: Northumberland Rocks, it tells the amazing story of Northumberland’s geological history from 425 million years ago right up to today and explains how and why its rocks are the reason for the region’s outstanding scenery and landscape. The book has been endorsed by BBC TV presenter Iain Stewart and international best-selling author Simon Winchester.
The 114-page book opens a window into the Northumberland beneath everybody’s feet and reveals the origins of its landscape and its habitats. It encourages people to look at their landscape with fresh eyes and inspire them to go explore the region.
The 50 rock sites described are diverse and range from Berwick-upon-Tweed in the north to Allenheads in the south and from Haltwhistle in the west to Tynemouth in the east. The book even includes the urban geology of central Newcastle.
There are places where people can climb over remnants of old volcanoes, experience the incredible power of ancient earthquakes, wander across a foreshore that was once a sub-tropical swamp and witness the awesome force of the last ice age, whilst wondering at the ingenuity of ancestors who used these rocks to create the region’s shared heritage.
Born and brought up in Carlisle, author Ian Jackson graduated from Newcastle University with a degree in Geology and Geography. He worked for the British Geological survey for 38 years, including 17 years in the north of England, before leading programmes to build the first digital geological maps of the UK, Europe and the Earth and make it accessible on the web.
His fascination with stones began at an early age during visits to the Lake District and the Roman Wall with his family. His curiosity about the evolution of the landscape was further fuelled by his A level geology studies and his subsequent degree in Geology and Geography.
Ian said: “This book is a personal selection of 50 places where rocks make a special statement about Northumberland’s landscape, history, culture and wildlife. Some of these places are well known, other less so and the journey to discover them has taken me to hidden corners. I wanted to share the amazing stories our rocks tell and this book is intended for everyone who is curious about their landscape.
“We may live on a very small part of the Earth’s crust, but it has had a long and eventful history. Northumberland has travelled across the globe and lain at the bottom of oceans, the ground beneath us has been buried to red-hot depths, broken apart by earthquakes, injected with molten magma and frozen under ice sheets. Only 15,000 years ago did the landscape we know today emerge. You will never look at the landscape in the same way again.”
Mike Pratt, Northumberland Wildlife Trust Chief Executive said: “This book sets out to help us understand the bedrock of our landscape - literally. It not only celebrates the amazing geodiversity of our region, through photographs and simple descriptions of 50 special places, it makes the story of the Northumbrian landscape relevant and more accessible to everyone.
“Our ambitions to conserve and enhance wildlife depend on a holistic understanding of our landscape - whether that is a Border Mire, a Cheviot mountain, the coast, or an inner-city park. Rocks shape our country and form our soils; they are the natural connector as we establish and extend nature networks.”
Priced at £10, the book, published by Northern Heritage is available from their online shop www.northern-heritage.co.uk and a number of stockists around the region listed below.
