SECTIONS IN THE BOWLAND SHALES WEST OF BARNOLDSWICK

Abstract

The summit of Weets Hill (1300 ft.) lies about two miles south-west of Barnoldswick and is the highest point in a ridge extending approximately south-westwards of the town. Streams on the northern flanks of the range, which is a continuation of the Pendle hillside and is capped by the massive Pendle Grit, show almost continuous sections in the whole of the Bowland Shales. Between the Pendle Grit, which is above the Bowland Shales, and the Pendleside Grit, which is in the middle of them, is a valley along which a stream1 flows in a north-easterly direction toward Barnoldswick: several small brooks entering from the south expose beds from the Sudeticeras splendens faunal band up to the Pendle Grit; another stream rising near New Field Edge2 and flowing south from the Pendleside Grit in the direction of the dip shows a section from the S. splendens band down to the Pendleside Grit.3 It joins Butts Beck on the left bank at a point a few yards below where a bridge takes a farm road from Hill Cloughs Farm over it. Half a mile to the west of New Field Edge is Higher Clough,4 known locally as Cowdale Clough, in which the base of the Pendleside Grit and beds down to the Pendleside Limestone are exposed. From the above, it would appear that a complete section in the Bowland Shales is shown but the inevitable patches of drift render the exposures far from perfect. SECTION IN HIGHER CLOUGH | | Ft. | in. | |:--------------- | --- | --- | | Pendleside Grit | | |