2017

NZ0964 : Path along the south side of the Spetchells

taken 6 years ago, near to Ovingham, Northumberland, England

Path along the south side of the Spetchells
Path along the south side of the Spetchells
The Spetchelles are a giant man-made ridge of industrial waste in the form of calcium carbonate. It now constitutes a chalk downland ecosystem unique in the north of England.
The Spetchells

Although geology left no chalk rocks in Northumberland, strangely the county does have one area of chalk grassland, the Spetchells.
Spetchells, is an old name of uncertain origin, originally applied to the area of rough grassland and scrub along the south bank of the River Tyne near Prudhoe which was traditionally used for recreation. According to Northumberland Words by Richard Oliver Heslop (1894), a spetchel or spatchel was the thin layer of turf laid between horizontal rows of stones used in building a wall ('a stone and spetchel dike').
The name is now associated with the 1km long mound of calcium carbonate dumped between the River Tyne and the railway as industrial waste by ICI as the result of manufacturing ammonium sulphate for fertiliser and explosives during World War II. The plant closed in 1963. The process involved using calcium sulphate obtained from powdered natural gypsum, or anhydrite, added to a solution of ammonium carbonate. Calcium carbonate precipitates out from the reaction LinkExternal link
The Spetchells are estimated to comprise two and a half million tons of this chalk. The dump was turfed over to make it less obvious to German bombers. Ash and sycamore trees were planted on the slopes, and hornbeams on the top, in an attempt to stabilise the mounds. The Spetchells now support plants typical of the ungrazed chalk grasslands of southern England, and a specialised chalk-loving fauna has also arrived, including rare butterflies and moths.
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Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Oliver Dixon and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Paths Woodland, Forest Waste, Waste management Primary Subject: Path other tags: Path Woodland Waste Heap Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Path [3] ·
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NZ0964, 33 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Oliver Dixon   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Wednesday, 29 November, 2017   (more nearby)
Submitted
Thursday, 30 November, 2017
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NZ 0974 6403 [10m precision]
WGS84: 54:58.2477N 1:50.9631W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NZ 09696 64030
View Direction
EAST (about 90 degrees)
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Image Type (about): geograph 
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