Hills and Valleys

Beacon Hill and the Lickey Ridge are well-known landmarks hereabouts. The two hills are separated by a deep valley. Why are the hills here and how did the valley form? This Voyage provides answers by looking at the rock beneath the hills and valley – and at evidence for volcanoes, flash floods, a lost ocean, rainforests, and massive earth movements that have led to the landscape of today!

This aerial view shows the route of the Voyage. In the actual app images may be zoomed in and swiped around to see all areas. In this web version you can enlarge most of the images by clicking on them. Return an image to normal size by clicking on the ‘X’ at the top right corner of the image.

Learn as you go

This Voyage will take you on a circular walk from the Lickey Hills Visitor Centre, down to the golf course, up Beacon Hill and back to Lickey Hills Country Park. If you need to make your walk shorter, you can make it a circular route from the golf course. The app will provide you with information about features you will see on your walk (touch ‘task’) and ask you questions, called tasks, as you proceed (touch ‘do it’ on the task screen). You will see your score at the top right corner.

Places in deep time

The app uses GPS to know where you are and what types of rocks are under your feet as shown on the map. The rocks were formed in big rivers, scorching deserts and oceans many millions of years ago – in deep time.  If you touch ‘then’ (in the app) during your Voyage, you will see what this place was like at the time the rocks you are looking at or standing on formed. You can get even more information about past times in Earth’s history by touching the clock at the top of the screen (in the app).

Surviving

Geology is the study of rocks, and today you will be an intrepid geological explorer, voyaging through past environments. Be alert, as at any time the app may present you with a threat to your virtual survival – a creature from deep time, an earthquake, a violent storm, volcanic eruption….. you will need to respond quickly by touching the red ‘threat’ button that will appear. To help you survive in the different environments, the app provides virtual supplies of oxygen and water (touch the health bar at the top of the screen). You will get a higher score at the end if you complete the Voyage with more of these supplies left. Find out more about how the app works by touching ‘help’. Enjoy your travels!

Setting out

First make sure you have answered the question for this site ( 1 Visitor Centre ) – touch ‘do it’. Then take the track that goes from Warren Lane down towards Rose Hill road and the golf course. You will soon come to a small quarry on your right, where you can see the rock that the Lickey Ridge is made of. Stop there as that is a TASK SITE where you will have things to find out and questions to answer.

Task Site 1 Question

If you touch the ‘then’ tab, for the rocks you are standing on, the app will give you:

a) Pictures of the ancient landscape
b) Pictures of creatures from that time
c) Our latitude on the globe at that time
d) Day and night time temperatures
e) All of the above