num_pages: 256
description:  In 1857, Lieutenant Commander Joseph Dayman was dispatched by the Admiralty at the helm of "HMS Cyclops" to take deep sea soundings in preparation for the first transatlantic telegraph cable. While the cable turned out to be perhaps the world's largest and most ineffectual immersion heater, Dayman's samples from the bottom of the ocean caused a sensation. For when the ooze had dried and was put under a microscope, Victorian scientists discovered that it looked like nothing so much as the rocks that formed the White Cliffs of Dover - it was chalk.  From the red desert sands beneath Devon to Scottish rocks that are as old as the Moon, Ian Vince takes us on a time-travelling journey into Britain's distant past. "The Lie of the Land" peels back the surface of the countryside and explains how it came to be that way; highlights fascinating things to look for in your local area, from fossils to folklore; and shows how the name of your town, or even the shape of its main road, offer clues that can instantly transport you back many millions of years to a land that time forgot.
language: English
title: The Lie of the Land: An Under-the-field Guide to the British Isles
publisher: Boxtree Ltd