An Age of Magic

The river of no return – for the Brit’s and the French that is…

An ancient giant river that was created when a huge glacial lake in the North Sea overflowed was responsible for first dividing Britain from France. The ‘Fleuve Manche’ or ’super-river’ ran south from the area of the North Sea. Scientists pieced together the geological jigsaw behind these amazing events after studying samples of the sediment carried by the ancient river and deposited in the Bay of Biscay. This revealed that a massive flood ate through the chalky rock separating Britain and France around 450,000 years ago during an ice age.

The river receded enough to let people and animals cross from continental Europe into England at different times but filled up again during the ice ages 160,000 years ago and between 90,000 and 30,000 years ago. Eventually the melted ice filled up the valley and the ‘Fleuve Manche’ became ‘La Manche’ – the French word for ’sleeve’ that describes the English Channel.

This kept Britain separate from Europe even after the end of the last ice age around 10,000 years ago.

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