Winnats Pass, Castleton, Derbyshire
By: shortfinals
Tags: Carboniferous Period, Castleton, coal, coal measures, cycle races, cyclists, Derbyshire, Gwondwana, landscape, limestone, Mam Tor, May, mountain stage, Peak District National Park, shallow sea, sheep, Winnat's Pass, Yorkshire
Category: animals, British Isles, Derbyshire, England, Great Britain, Peak District
| Aperture: | f/5.6 |
|---|---|
| Focal Length: | 21mm |
| ISO: | 100 |
| Shutter: | 1/0 sec |
| Camera: | MVC-CD500 |
- Winnat’s Pass from part-way up MamTor
The day was warm, the month was May, and it was a grand idea to go to the summit of Mam Tor and take a few photographs.
Here we can see some of the magnificent Winnat’s Pass, one of the most spectacular limestone formations in Derbyshire. Late in the Carboniferous period, the partial melting of the Gwondwana ice-sheet caused this area of Derbyshire and Yorkshire to rise. Consequently, the channel which had been cut through a limestone reef, was exposed and further eroded. This same elevation of the land caused shallow sea areas to form, and in turn, gave rise to conditions ideal for the laying down of coal measures.
Winnat’s Pass rises so steeply from Castleton that it is a real struggle for cyclists; this has caused it to be used as a mountain stage in several professional cycle races.
Oh, and the tiny white dots, scattered all over the landscape? Some of the many sheep which inhabit this part of the world!
Shortfinals - aviation and more! 
I’ve never seen Winnats Pass photographed from this angle before, it really does accentuate the geology of the feature.
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Thank you! I do try for the unusual shot, if I can; it helped that it was a nice, bright day.
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