The Anston Stones Geological Trail
If you want to wander along the trail there are parking areas by Anston Parish Hall off Rackford Road (walk down over turner's field) or off the A57 Worksop Road. You can add on other footpaths to make a longer walk if you require (Ordnance Survey Explorer 279).
The granite setts of the embankment wall are re-used road cobbles. There is a range of rocks from the Channel Islands to the Lake District.
The prominent gnarled landforms are the remains of an ancient reef which survived at the edge of the Zechstein Sea 260 million years ago. Britain was hot and dry and animal life was scarce but remains of shellfish and colonies of primitive organisms can be found. If you look across the gorge large block or rock have been undermined and slipped down the hillside.
Along the Cut on either side of the path you can see the thin horizontal layers of Magnesian Limestone. These form a record of the sea beds of the Zechstein Sea, laid one on top another. There are ripple marks detectable in the rock, evidence of tides and currents.
The railway bridge contains two different types of stone, local Magnesian Limestone used for the walling and Millstone Grit from the Pennines used for the coping. The arch is built in Staffordshire blue engineering brick renowned for their strength and durability.
Aston Brook slows down as it flows eastward out of the gorge and the wood.
The brook has changed its course many times over the years leaving thick deposits of silt. On the stream bed and near the bank the pebbles have been graded by the flow. Miniature rapids can be seen where small outcrops of hard limestone are hidden below the surface of the water.
On the higher path through the woods there are stones marked DL which indicated the edges of the estate of the Duke of Leeds.