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Cornerstones: Subterranean Writings; from Dartmoor to the Arctic Circle
However concealed it may be, Britain’s bedrock geology profoundly determines what we see around us – not just landforms but also our built environment. From Aberdeen, nicknamed “the granite city” to Bath, constructed from warm, honey-coloured limestone, rocks shape our world.
In Cornerstones , some of Britain’s leading landscape and nature writers consider the depth of their relationships with the ground beneath their feet. Distinguished by a strong sense of place and characterised by close observation, these essays take the reader out into the landscape and convey the tactile heft, grain and rub of the rock, showing how it shapes our landscapes.
Adapted from the successful BBC Radio Three series, Cornerstones explores how different rock types give rise to their own distinct flora and fauna, and even affect our food. Some of the contributors express awe at the abyss of time that is locked into the lie of the land – like Sara Maitland grasping the extraordinary journey through time and space taken by Lewisian gneiss, while Alan Garner captures the way in which flint has enabled and accompanied human evolution, from the earliest times.
In Cornerstones , some of Britain’s leading landscape and nature writers consider the depth of their relationships with the ground beneath their feet. Distinguished by a strong sense of place and characterised by close observation, these essays take the reader out into the landscape and convey the tactile heft, grain and rub of the rock, showing how it shapes our landscapes.
Adapted from the successful BBC Radio Three series, Cornerstones explores how different rock types give rise to their own distinct flora and fauna, and even affect our food. Some of the contributors express awe at the abyss of time that is locked into the lie of the land – like Sara Maitland grasping the extraordinary journey through time and space taken by Lewisian gneiss, while Alan Garner captures the way in which flint has enabled and accompanied human evolution, from the earliest times.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published July 23, 2018
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September 12, 2018
Standing looking over the rolling fields of part of the UK and it won't be immediately obvious what bedrock the soils are sitting on. But the clues are there if you know where to look. Soil colour is one clue, but if you ignore the brick that most modern homes are built with now and find the older houses in your local area and you will find the stone that has been hauled out of the ground to build them. These buildings fit really well in the landscape, for example, the warm coloured Cotswold houses, the cool greys of Portland limestone and the darker grey granites of Aberdeen show the bedrock off in all its glory.
This collection of essays from a wide variety of writers, poets and artists has been adapted from the BBC Radio Three series, Cornerstones. In here you will find Sue Clifford, one of Common Grounds founders, talking about limestone, Fiona Hamilton contemplating the brick, Paul Evans standing in a wood holding a horsetail that made up the coal beneath his feet 300 million years ago. Tim Dee writes about his own personal rock, a rock that nearly killed him and Linda Cracknell is entranced by the sparkle of quartz as people have been for millennia. Peter Randall-Page talks art and Dartmoor granite and Neil Ansell begins in Balcombe in West Sussex where they are starting to frack, before heading to Kimmeridge to see the same oil shales and see the unexpected sight of a metronomic nodding donkey.
The pebble opens the cosmos. And yet, lost in the immensity of understanding, should I not fear this thing
This is just a taste of these captivating essays in here from a great selection of authors and this is another cracker of a compilation from Little Toller, following on from Arboreal a couple of years ago. Even though it is all about rock, the contrasting subjects tackled from a wide variety of views ensure that there is always something to interest you in every essay. Before you venture out in your local area next time, find out what the bedrock is (check here) have a look around at the soils and see how your landscape is shaped. Highly recommended.
The Radio Three essays that inspired this book are still available to listen to here.
This collection of essays from a wide variety of writers, poets and artists has been adapted from the BBC Radio Three series, Cornerstones. In here you will find Sue Clifford, one of Common Grounds founders, talking about limestone, Fiona Hamilton contemplating the brick, Paul Evans standing in a wood holding a horsetail that made up the coal beneath his feet 300 million years ago. Tim Dee writes about his own personal rock, a rock that nearly killed him and Linda Cracknell is entranced by the sparkle of quartz as people have been for millennia. Peter Randall-Page talks art and Dartmoor granite and Neil Ansell begins in Balcombe in West Sussex where they are starting to frack, before heading to Kimmeridge to see the same oil shales and see the unexpected sight of a metronomic nodding donkey.
The pebble opens the cosmos. And yet, lost in the immensity of understanding, should I not fear this thing
This is just a taste of these captivating essays in here from a great selection of authors and this is another cracker of a compilation from Little Toller, following on from Arboreal a couple of years ago. Even though it is all about rock, the contrasting subjects tackled from a wide variety of views ensure that there is always something to interest you in every essay. Before you venture out in your local area next time, find out what the bedrock is (check here) have a look around at the soils and see how your landscape is shaped. Highly recommended.
The Radio Three essays that inspired this book are still available to listen to here.
Displaying 1 of 1 review