Norber erratics

The Norbic erratics were just a name until yesterday when Russ and I wandered up to them in brilliant October sunshine! I have to say for my third walk out of the village it was a challenge and showed how out of shape I am! I know I keep saying this, but we are really fortunate to have such a place to live! Now for the education bit:-
The underlying rocks are of Paleozoic age. The oldest rocks are sandstones, gritstones and slates of Ordovician and Silurian age. These formations form the rock surface in the valley. They are well exposed in Crummack Dale to the north of the village where they are strongly folded along east-west axes. The rocks are relatively impervious and restrict the flow of groundwater.

Massive limestone rock formations of Lower Carboniferous age rest above the older Ordovician and Silurian formations. The contact between them is unconformable whereby the Carboniferous limestone strata are more or less horizontal relative to the strongly folded older formations the surface of which had been eroded to form an ancient rolling landscape. The limestone formations appear as scarp slopes along the valley sides and karstic pavements in the uplands. They are well drained via joints and bedding planes, which enlarge as infiltrating precipitation slowly dissolves the limestones ultimately resulting in the formation of the caves and potholes in the surrounding area. The infiltrating precipitation collects as groundwater in the limestone formation and flows through the joints and bedding planes. The discharge of this groundwater emerges as springs locally at the contact of the limestone with the underlying relatively impervious Ordovician and Silurian rocks. One such spring at Norber was the source of water supply to the village until recently.

Limestones, sandstones, and shales of the Yoredale Series and then the Millstone Grit rest above the Lower Carboniferous “Great Scar Limestones.” These rock strata are exposed on the upper slopes and summit of Ingleborough to the north and Penyghent to the northeast.