Why is there a 'basket of eggs' in Strangford Lough?
It is hard to imagine now that this part of the world was once covered in ice hundreds of metres thick. About 12,000 years ago, during Britain’s last glacial period, glaciers and ice sheets enveloped the land. This had a massive impact on what we can see today.
Ice is a powerful force of nature which can shape and drastically alter landscapes. One such landscape feature is known as a ‘drumlin’. Drumlins often occur in ‘swarms’ and are sometimes referred to as a ‘basket of eggs’. Looking at their shape, you can see why!
There is still some debate about how drumlins formed. The most widely accepted idea is that they were created when the ice became overloaded with sediment, known as 'till'.
The glacier may have lost its ability to carry the sediment for several reasons, including melting of the ice and changes in speed. When the glacier was unable to carry its entire load some was deposited. If there was a small obstacle on the ground, this too may have acted as a trigger point and sediment would have built up around it.
As the ice melted, sea levels rose, inundating huge areas of land around the British Isles. This combination of events has left the lumpy scene before us now – a landscape of drowned drumlins, ‘swimming’ within the lough.
Besides being interesting additions to the landscape, these drumlins can also reveal secrets of the glaciers that once covered them. If you fancy being a landscape detective for the day, then take a look at the ‘eggs’ and see which way their steepest side faces. They always point to the direction the glacier came from, while the drumlins’ longer or 'lee' sides were elongated by the abrasive grinding of the ice’s force as it passed over the sediment.
Understanding how past landscapes were created is vital to understanding the Earth today. Remains of past glacial action show how those areas that are currently covered with ice, like Greenland, might look in the future as a result of climate change.
So not only do these ‘eggs’ tell the dramatic story of the forces that shaped the land, they could also provide clues to what some of our landscapes may look like for future generations.
A cream tea with Dracula
Scrabo Tower, where we are standing now, is one of Northern Ireland’s best-known landmarks.
Its turreted top stands 540 feet above sea level and is 125 feet (41 metres) high. The walls are over a metre thick and the entire building is constructed of stone from Scrabo Hill, right beneath our feet! If you climbed the tower’s 122 steps on a clear day you might be able to see as far as the Isle of Man, the Scottish coastline and the Mournes mountains.
The tower was built in 1857 as a memorial to Charles Stewart, 3rd Marquis of Londonderry. He earned fame and fortune overseas as Lieutenant Colonel of the Light Dragoons, and was held in high regard in Ireland for his attempts to alleviate suffering during the nineteenth century potato famine.
Though used as a film location for Dracula Untold in 2014, and as a cream tea café, Strabo Tower is now only occasionally open to the public, due to environmental damage.
If you are lucky enough to visit when the tower is open, make sure to have a look around and see Strangford Lough from this unique vantage point.
