Back in Leicestershire

The best and most unanticipated thing about doing this project is visiting places, that I wouldn't usually see or spend much time in, in quite an intimate way - and meeting some great people, who are a wealth of information and actually interested in this rather weird thing that I am doing.
For the last couple of day's I was back in Leicestershire collecting more samples from previous test sites and from new places. The first image is Groby Quarry, which hasn't been mined for 15 years, just biding its time really until it is worth quarrying again.

Today the weather was far better and my clothes started to dry out from yesterday. I was shown around Beacon Hill by one of the rangers, who was extremely generous with his time and knowledge. It's the second highest point in the area and represents an exposure of the oldest rocks in England. It is a volcanic tuff, which was deposited in the pre-cambrian era.

Then it was a short drive to Mountsorrel, where there is a huge quarry, mining the slightly younger granodiorite. The woods around the quarry are full of these spectacular boulders.
It was also a chance to stay with Ben Brierley and hit the dazzling streets of Loughborough for a fantastic curry. Check out his blog http://ben-brierley.blogspot.com/