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Stop 15: (1210 m) Long Point – SM 797 049
You have just walked around Welshman’s Bay, which ends at a promontory called Long Point.
Along this stretch the view inland shows the ancient wave-cut platform discussed at Stop 8.
In places, the exposed rocks of the cliff show evidence of the last glaciation, in the form of a gravelly, stony deposit on the top of the bedrock. This material was carried along by the ice and deposited after the glaciers retreated. Evidence of the effects of glaciation is also revealed by the presence of ‘erratics’, which are boulders made of rock not found in this part of the country today. They were carried long distances by the ice, sometimes for hundreds of miles. The glaciers that covered this region 15-20 000 years ago came down the Irish Sea from Scotland and the Lake District, carrying with them pieces of rock from these areas.
Being on the windward side of the peninsula doesn’t affect just the growth of land plants along the coast. The exposure to the wind and waves also affects the distribution of organisms on the rocky shores. On an exposed shore the inter-tidal zone plants and animals extend much further up the shore – the vertical distance from the seaweeds on the lower shore to the lichens in the splash zone can be tens of metres, whereas on a sheltered shore such as on the east of the peninsula it may be only a few metres.
About 500 metres further on you leave the Kete National Trust property. The path carries on around Castle Bay.