Twenty six brave souls met in the driving rain as a strong South Westerly blew
over the Lyme Kiln car park devoid of customers except for geologists keen to
test out their waterproof gear.
We walked against the wind to the high almost vertical red cliffs to the west
of the town where we were able to see the Lower Triassic Budleigh Salterton
beds which were mature conglomerates deposited in braided river systems. Alan
told us---against a background of pounding waves on the pebble beach and the
gush of water and gravel coming down the cliff----that the palaeo current indicators
suggested that the river systems came from the South East and that the beds
were younging to the South East .We looked at a variety of patterns in the pebbles
some of which showed a variation in the oxygenation state of the sediments of
which they were composed and some had been identified as Dreikanters (wind facetted
pebbles) appropriate to having been sourced from Aeolian sediments.
The trudge back was drier and we were able to raise our heads and admire the
way the locals had used the attractive pebbles in garden and building walls
even though the local authority notice board threatened dire penalties for pebble
removal.
An extended lunch break and careful navigational instructions brought us to
Ladram Bay holiday camp car park( which was free as the camp had not yet opened
for the season).
The red cliffs of Ladram Bay are of Otter Sandstone also of fluvial origin but
of finer grained sandstone and mudstones. Careful examination by the whole group
found a whole range of sedimentary bed forms. Cross bedding indicated flows
from both the S.E and S.W consistent with meandering braided streams. Rippled
surfaces were found with infills of lag deposits. It was interesting to be able
to look at bedding patterns from one direction and then at right angles to the
same bed. As the tide went down we were able to see a harder bed exposed at
the Western end of the bay with some concretions or maybe trace fossils. Ladram
Bay with it's sea stacks was certainly very picturesque and marked down as a
place to visit in better weather. There is a coastal walk from Budleigh Salterton
via Ladram Bay to Sidmouth which should be really good in the sunshine.
Next we moved to Sidmouth with the sun shining and our hard hats showing up
amongst the Sunday afternoon strollers. We looked at Chit rocks (high sandstone
cliffs with a promenade path on the sea side ).These were again part of the
Otter Sandstone and besides looking at further evidence of flow regimes we could
see how efforts had been made to protect the cliff with bolts and netting. The
effects of wind and rain on these soft rocks are considerable even though the
base of the cliff is protected by the man made promenade. After our stroll in
the afternoon sun we moved to the Eastern end of the Sidmouth sea front but
the cliffs on the other side of the river were out of bounds-- dangerous .So
after thanking Alan and our Friends from the South West Branch we retired to
the nearest tea shop.
Peter Martin with much reference to Alan Holiday Handout