The Spetchells [29 photos] in NZ09606403 :: Geograph Britain and Ireland

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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 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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by Andrew Curtis

Created: Sun, 29 Aug 2010, Updated: Thu, 28 Oct 2021

29 images use this description. Preview sample shown below:

NZ0964 : View over River Tyne from the Spetchells by Andrew Curtis

NZ0963 : Wildflowers on The Spetchells by Anthony Foster

NZ0963 : Wild Mignonette (Reseda lutea), the Spetchells by Andrew Curtis

NZ1064 : Climb to the Spetchells by Andrew Curtis

NZ1064 : River Tyne north-east from the Spetchells by Andrew Curtis

NZ1064 : Park Burn, Tyne Riverside Park by Andrew Curtis

NZ0964 : Path on The Spetchells by Anthony Foster

NZ1064 : The Spetchells, east part, Tyne Riverside Park by Andrew Curtis

NZ1064 : Hadrian's Cycleway, Tyne Riverside Park, Prudhoe by Andrew Curtis

NZ0964 : Hadrian's Cycleway, Tyne Riverside Park, Prudhoe by Andrew Curtis

NZ0963 : Top of the Spetchells, west end, Tyne Riverside by Andrew Curtis

NZ0863 : Ovingham Bridge from the Spetchells by Andrew Curtis

NZ0964 : River Tyne west from the Spetchells by Andrew Curtis

NZ0964 : Tyne Riverside Pump House by Andrew Curtis

NZ0963 : Waste water treatment works and transport depot, Low Prudhoe by Andrew Curtis

NZ0964 : Path along the south side of the Spetchells by Oliver Dixon

NZ1064 : The Spetchells, east end by Andrew Curtis

NZ0964 : The white cliffs of Tynedale by Andrew Curtis

NZ0963 : Steps on the west side of the Spetchells, Tyne Riverside Park by Andrew Curtis

NZ0963 : New interpretation at The Spetchells by Andrew Curtis

NZ1064 : Path between the Spechells and the railway, Tyne Riverside Park by Andrew Curtis

NZ1064 : Candytuft flowering on the chalk soils of the Spetchells by Andrew Curtis

... and 4 more images.

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