The Sandstone Outcrops of the Forest of Dean

Martin Crocker. Beneath the Carboniferous limestone of the Wye Valley area, exemplified by the ever-popular crags of Symonds Yat, lies an older and shyer neighbour; a 12-metre thick band of resistant, pebbly Old Red Sandstone. Secretively outcropping within symbiotic woodland along the rolling northern escarpments of the Forest of Dean, these quartz conglomerate sandstones require you to look hard to discover their true potential. Although the discovery was made in the 1960's, it was not until the turn of the 21st century that the painstaking search for more sandstone treasure really began. A new experience for most, climbing on sandstone is something not to be missed.