Under tropical seas

It's been a warm and sunny afternoon here in the South West, and there are signs that spring is really here with the bluebells finally starting to flower. It's also been an important day for the South West with trains finally returning to the South Devon line through Dawlish, following the devastation brought by the winter storms. The amazing power of the sea took a matter of hours to demolish whole sections of the sea wall, leaving parts of the track dangling in mid air. 55 days and £35 million pounds later it's finally fixed - phew!

I'm no train spotter (honest!), but I reckon one of the best train journeys in Britain must be the journey from Exeter to Teignmouth, hugging the coast on Brunel's fabulous railway.If you've not done it then you really must - just make sure you choose a sunny day and sit on the left hand side of the train for the best views. On approaching Starcross, you get the first stunning views across the sparkling waters of the river Exe across to Exmouth. The journey then continues along the coast towards Dawlish Warren with views across Lyme Bay, before travelling along the sea wall (badly damaged in last winters storms) towards Dawlish, with fabulous sea views to one side, and amazing red sandstone cliffs to the other. After Dawlish, the line passes through a number of short tunnels, before arriving at Teignmouth, before heading inland towards Newton Abbot along the banks of the River Teign.

The stunning sandstone cliffs of Dawlish are just one clue to the amazing story of how Devon itself was formed 400 million years ago under tropical seas, as explained in the following extract from the book, Britain's Heritage Coast, Exmouth to Plymouth...

Under tropical seas

The story of its rocks is the earliest possible history of Devon. A story of how the very earth on which we stand was created within ancient ocean sediments, drifting over unimaginable time-scales to where we see them today by the endless journey of the Earth's tectonic plates across the surface of our planet.

Devon's story begins relatively recently in geological terms, only 400 million years ago in the Devonian period. At the time, what was to become the landmass of Devon was located south of the Equator, under the shallow tropical waters of the Rheic Ocean, where they lapped the shores of an ancient continent called Laurussia. Early life such as sponges and ammonites thrived in these warm waters, and their remains gradually accumulated on the sea floor. Over millions of years these were buried and compressed by enormous geological forces to eventually form the Devonian limestone rocks which can be seen today around Berry Head and Hope's Nose. In deeper waters, ash from nearby volcanoes settled on the seabed to eventually form the Devonian shale and slates that can be seen today around Torquay at Thatcher Point and Meadfoot beach.

The remains of ancient sand dunes: the Permian sandstone
cliffs overlooking Brunel's railway at Dawlish

Mountains and deserts

By the Permian period of 280 million years ago, Devon's landmass lay near the present-day Sahara desert in an arid part of the Pangaea super-continent as it drifted slowly north of the Equator. Gradually the power of wind and weather would erode the huge mountain chain, gradually exposing the Devonian rocks buried within them. During dry periods, desert sands would pile up into ancient sand dunes, which millions of years later would become the classic red sandstone cliffs seen today around Dawlish, where the curving lines of ancient windblown dunes are still easily visible. During wetter periods, floods washed debris down from the mountains and into the desert plains, producing a mixture of desert sand and pebbles. This would form the Breccia rocks which can now be seen in many places around Dawlish and Torquay.

If you want to read more, why not visit my website at www.garyholpin.co.uk and buy the book?

:-)