Cley next the Sea

This morning I went for a geology talk and walk at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust centre just outside Cley next the Sea by Martin Warren. The talk was so interesting, including slides on the most extreme UK glaciation called the Anglian Ice Age and the impact it had on the land locally including the formation of the Cromer ridge. He also talked about when East Anglia was connected to Europe through land named Doggerland which is now the North Sea. The land outside Cley was also included in his talk - Cley used to be one of the busiest ports in England until the land was reclaimed in the 17th Century. The sea was blocked from coming in from the West by the building of the East and West banks and the draining of the marshes, work that continues to this day. 

We then walked along the East Bank to the shingle beach - it was extraordinarily blustery on the bank which must be about 5 metres higher than the surrounding marshes. We sat on the beach looking at the shingle and he was showing us stones that were local and stones that came from Scotland. I asked him about the flint that is abundant in Norfolk and he explained how it is formed through a very specific chemical process and forms around an initial nugget. 

The talk was so interesting, I'm hoping to sign up for another of his walks next year at Happisburgh where a few years ago they discovered footprints which were identified as the oldest found in Europe. 
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/research_projects/all_current_projects/featured_project_happisburgh/happisburgh_footprints.aspx

If you're local, Martin's walks can be found here
http://www.northfolk.org.uk/geology.html