"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 15 Mar 2011 05:33:34 -0700 (PDT), Compo in Caithness
wrote:

Can anyone give me any information about the red sandy soils found in
Paignton, Devon, gardens please?

Cheers,
Compo in Caithness

Depends what you want to know.

Not surprisingly, the red soils in the Paignton, Teignmouth, Dawlish
and Exmouth areas are derived from the underlying red sandstones,
spectacularly displayed in the cliffs at Dawlish where the railway
runs along the coast. Contrary to what you might think, these are not
the 'Old Red Sandstones' of the Devonian period, but 'New Red
Sandstones' of the later Permo-Triassic period. They were a mixture of
wind-blown sands, rounded stones and even boulders, laid down by
torrential rivers when the local climate was much hotter and drier
that it is now, and comparable to desert conditions. They are
principally quartz sand, cemented together by iron oxide, which gives
them the red colour. They are of a later date than the Old Red
Sandstone represented by the Caithness flagstones, for example, seeing
as how you're from those parts.

The Devonian period ran from about 325 to 285 million years ago,
whereas the Permo-Triassic period ran from 210 to 145 million years
ago, give or take a week or two, so about 75 million years between the
two periods, minimum. In the Devonian period, the chunk of earth's
crust that eventually became the UK as we know it today, was a bit
south of the equator, probably somewhere near where St. Helena or
Ascension Island is today. By the Permo-Triassic period, we'd drifted
north of the equator, probably to somewhere around the Cape Verde
Islands.

Now I expect you'll tell me you actually wanted to know was how things
grow in them! :-)

--

Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall overlooking the sea.
Mild, but very exposed to salt gales

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

Thanks for the historical information, very interesting.

Bill