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The Amazing Formations At Brimham Rocks

A National Trust Site In

By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred Published 3 years ago • 3 min read
Visitors to Brimham Rocks in the 19th century | © Brimham Rocks Archive

Introduction

I am a little worried about posting this because I am not a geologist (the only person I know who is, is my good friend Les) and all the technical bits will have to be taken from other web pages, but I will credit the borrowed text and link to the page that they come from. The description below is from the Wikipedia entry. I do hope that this is not seen as plagiarism, I have put it together because I love sharing interesting things with my friends on Vocal and elsewhere.

I thought the cover of Horslips' "The Rocks Remain" was appropriate for this piece.

Brimham Rocks, once known as Brimham Crags, is a 183.9-hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and Geological Conservation Review site, 8 miles north-west of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, on Brimham Moor in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Although I do have some pictures that I took, I think they are just photographs and I cannot track them down at the moment so all the photographs will be taken from various sites, but again will all be credited at least by text. You can follow the National Trust posts on Instagram and the website is below. The link has lots of images and things to do if you actually visit the place. If you are ever in the area it is definitely a place you have to visit.

When my daughters. Juliet and Kirsty, were young I took them a few times and they absolutely loved it. It was like a fantasy playground and most certainly, it could be dangerous if they were to fall from one of the bigger formations but that is part of the fun of adventure as a child. Someone I worked with once said children should not be allowed there and it should be cordoned off, but that is just one dissenting voice. I said, "If you feel that way then don't go". As far as I know, there have been no serious injuries on the site because most people, including children, generally look after themselves.

About Brimham Rocks

These unusual rock formations came about through glaciation and erosion from wind and rain of the millstone grit sandstone that is found in the area. Geologists have dated the rocks at around 320 million years old.

The article below is a very good background about how the site came to be.

When you come into the site it almost twists your mind seeing the amazing formations. They are not huge but they are more than big enough to impress you and make your mind think "What The Hell!!!" These are natural rock formations, they have not been made by man, and that makes them even more incredible.

From www.BritainExpress.com

The formation above is typical of Brimham Rocks, you wonder how it hasn't fallen over but they stay like that, and are a more than impressive sight.

This is a monochrome shot from the Journal of Antiquities site below.

Brimaham Rocks - Pately Bridge

The image above is taken from the Pately Bridge site which you can visit below for more information on these formations.

This is taken from Atlas Obscura, that you can visit below:

Many of the rock outcroppings reach over 30 meters into the sky, and the protected Brimham Rock area covers more than 400 acres. Most of the rocks have been given names such as “The Sphinx, The Watchdog, The Camel, The Turtle, and The Dancing Bear” and many have legends attached, such as the lover’s rocks where a couple that couldn’t be together attempted to jump to their death but were miraculously saved.

Conclusion

I hope this has at least piqued your interest in Brimham Rocks, and if you ever get the chance to visit, you should most definitely take it.

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Very well written. Keep up the good work!

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Comments (3)

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  • Judey Kalchik 2 years ago

    Glad you shared this one!

  • Beautiful.

  • Gina C.3 years ago

    Super interesting, Mike!! Thank you so much for sharing your experience, and I learned something new! :)

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