Uncovering the Past

A forest once grew along what is now the North East coast, presumably crossing the area that is now the mouth of the river Tees. Around 7000 years ago the sea level rose and the forest was flooded and what was left onshore was cut down to allow for farming and more recently housing and industry. 

Last weeks storms removed the top layer of sand along our stretch of coast line and uncovered an area of petrified forest on Redcar beach which is currently visible around the low tide mark. This area does become uncovered every 10 or 20 years and stretches from Hartlepool to Redcar. It generated lots of interest and big crowds have gathered every low tide, I wasn't alone in finding it fascinating to look at trees from 7000 years ago