Lickey Ridge Voyage in Deeptime

The Lickey Ridge Voyage explores the ancient rocks and the landforms of the Lickey Ridge (Bilberry Hill) in the Lickey Hills Country Park on the SW tip of Birmingham. This Voyage offers a much shorter route on level paths, in contrast to the Lickey Hills Voyage. The area includes rocks formed around 480 million years ago in shallow warm seas with nearby volcanoes, through tropical rain forests, to a vast harsh desert. Plus the story of a gorge cut through the Lickey Hills possibly by torrents of glacial meltwater.

Distance 1km (0.6 miles), mostly on gravelled level paths. If you opt to visit Barnt Green Road Quarry the distance is slightly more and will involve use of a flight of wooden steps.

Larger scale map
The colour overlay on the map , depicts the different rocks of the Lickey Hills  area. Touching these different colours on the map running in the Voyager app, will display the name of the rock, provide images of how the environment may have looked when that rock was forming, the life forms that existed and environmental audio. As much of that content as possible is replicated in the following.

Links to Task Sites for the Lickey Ridge Voyage

1 Visitor Centre
2 View Point
3 Barnt Green Road Quarry
4 Heath land
5 Boulders
6 View of Beacon Hill
7 Bedding

Ordovican Earth – arrangement of land and sea around the time Lickey Quartzite rocks of the Voyage formed.
Carboniferous Earth – arrangement of land and sea around the time the terrestrial rocks of the Voyage formed.
Permian Earth – arrangement of land and sea around the time the desert rocks of the Voyage formed
Triassic Earth – arrangement of land and sea around the time the later desert rocks of the Voyage formed

The following links are to environmental reconstructions, life forms, atmospheric composition, day length, top predators, climate and other facts relating to the  times when the various rock units of the Lickey Hills were forming. Starting with the youngest rocks.
You do not cross all these rocks on the Voyage but they are present in the area of the map.

Helsby Sandstone (old name Bromsgrove Sandstone)
Around 244 million years old
Environment – north view  |  Environment – south view  |  Lifeforms  | Information

Kidderminster Formation (new name Chester Formation)
Around 245 million years old
Environment – north view | Lifeforms | Information

Clent Breccia
Around 285 million years old
Environment – north view | East view | South view | West view | View from above | Lifeforms | Information

Carboniferous Mudstone 
Around 305 million years old
Environment – north view | Information

Halesowen Formation
Around  306 million years old
Environment – north view  |  Environment – south view  |  Lifeforms  | Information

Much Wenlock Limestone
Age around 425 million years ago
Environment – north view | Lifeforms | Information

Lickey Quartzite
Age around 480 million years ago
Environment – north view | Lifeforms | Information

Barnt Green Volcanics
Age around 484 million years ago
Environment – north view | Lifeforms | Information