This Region of the River Dane has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by the Nature Conservancy Council for England (English Nature). The terraces visible on both sides of the valley are earlier levels of the river as the great ice sheets retreated during the last 100,000 years. In places the much older Triassic rocks (Keuper Marl) laid down over 200 million years ago are exposed.
In 1954 scientists (two of whom were former students at Jodrell Bank) measured the magnetic properties of these ancient rocks taken from the opposite side of the valley near the Holmes Chapel viaduct. These results formed an important part of the proof of the theory of continental drift and that during the last 200 million years the British Isles have moved slowly north from tropical latitudes to their present position borne on one of the major plates that make up the Earth’s crust. Earthquakes are caused by the movement of these major plates. During the long period of drift of the British Isles from tropical regions the dinosaurs evolved on earth and became extinct about 60 million years ago.
In 1954 scientists (two of whom were former students at Jodrell Bank) measured the magnetic properties of these ancient rocks taken from the opposite side of the valley near the Holmes Chapel viaduct. These results formed an important part of the proof of the theory of continental drift and that during the last 200 million years the British Isles have moved slowly north from tropical latitudes to their present position borne on one of the major plates that make up the Earth’s crust. Earthquakes are caused by the movement of these major plates. During the long period of drift of the British Isles from tropical regions the dinosaurs evolved on earth and became extinct about 60 million years ago.
This is the view of the valley from the western boundary of The Quinta.