Charnwood Forest Geopark’s geoconservation volunteers group met for the first time on Wednesday for a session at Morley Quarry. Situated in the south of Shepshed, the quarry features exposures of the oldest rocks within the Geopark, but over recent years some of the most important outcrops have become obscured by vegetation.
Over the course of three hours, the nine volunteers managed to re-expose a critical outcrop of the Ives Head Formation, from around 580 million years ago, which is overlain by younger Triassic sediments from around 230 million years ago. The group removed brambles and other weeds, with all compostable waste being processed on site. Morley Quarry is managed as a Local Nature Reserve, with the work of Geopark being supported by landowners Charnwood Borough Council and their partners at IDverde.
Following the superb work of the volunteers, the site can be better viewed and understood by all visitors. The site is one of the best places to view a geological structure known as an ‘unconformity’ within the Geopark, and is used by university groups around the UK to teach geoscience.
Our geoconservation volunteers will be meeting monthly at Morley Quarry and other sites to help care for the Geopark’s internationally significant geoheritage. If you would like to get involved, you can contact us here.
Volunteers at Morley Quarry