Bamburgh: exploring the Whin Sill

On Thursday afternoon 29th August, local expert Dr Ian Kille of Northumbrian Earth will lead a walk exploring the remarkable outcrops of the Whin Sill on the shore at Bamburgh. The walk will be approximately 5 km and will involve some scrambling across rocks on the foreshore. Strong boots are recommended and some may find walking poles helpful.

To join the walk email [email protected]. Details can be found on the Northumbrian Earth website: https://www.northumbrianearth.co.uk/event/87-farenheit-2017-bamburgh

“Stuff your eyes with wonder, he said, live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.” (Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451)

The temperature at which the Whin Sill was injected between the kilometre thick layers of Carboniferous sedimentary rock was over double that at which paper will combust, the Fahrenheit 451 of Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel. At over 1000 degrees Celsius the Whin Sill magma would have glowed a bright yellow, painful to the eyes, albeit this would have been impossible to do as the molten rock remained trapped a kilometre or so underground.

This walk explores the rocks on this beautiful part of the coast which give the evidence for this story, showing what happens when hot magma and cold rock meet. The walk will also help to explain the story of how the 300 million year old roots of Bamburgh Castle came to provide such a ruggedly defensible landform.