AHHH...The Jurrasic Coast of England

Terri and I left the house around 10:00 AM Friday since the drive down to Charmouth takes about 4 1/2 + hours...we arrived at the hotel and got settled in and I immediately went down the road to check out the fossil shop...really cool, they have a replica Tyrannosaurus Rex skull and several ichthyosaur skeletons around the shop as well as ammonites and so forth. Day One: We were scheduled to meet at the fossil shop in the parking lot at Charmouth @ 12:00 Noon. After confirming that we were there, the introductions were made at which time I gave several fossil teeth to Roy Sheppard on behalf of the BRF group. Roy did a briefing using pictures, actual fossils, and props on what we were looking for as well as some safety tips. We then did the "group photo op" moment and proceeded to head out. We walked the length of the beach from Charmouth to the base of Golden Cap (highest point in Southern England). One stretch of the beach had no fossils, but wow, did it have a lot of rocks, more like a god-forsaken rock garden; no real solid ground...I'm talking rocks the size of golf ball, softballs, baseballs, and tennis balls all on top of one another...and as you walked it felt like you getting nowhere...we finally cleared that area and was looking for more fossils in the fallen material at the base of Golden Cap when one of the leaders said that we couldn't get around Golden Cap...apparently we had mistimed it slightly and the ocean tide had come in around the corner and cut us off...at this point, Roy was seriously involved with removing an ammonite from a rock when I walked over...he whacked it a couple of more times and it finally came loose...he then gave it to me...so cool! Anyway, now we're cut off from going forward anymore...no big deal, we just doubled back across that god-forsaken rock garden to a staircase that led up the side of the cliff, about an 800 foot climb up at about an 85 degree angle. That wasn't so bad...except then we had to cross several muddy rain soaked, cow/sheep manure filled pastures that went up the side of a hill and then down the other side of the hill without slipping and falling down, all the while, carrying our treasures...I didn't fall down once! However, I did do several pirouettes and different acrobatic maneuvers to keep from falling down. At one point I did an acrobatic maneuver that caused me to almost whack myself in the head with the fossil that I was carrying. That would have left a mark! I couldn't put it in my backpack for fear of it getting broken by the other stuff in my backpack...Well, we made it back to the parking lot just before the sun fully set. Terri arrived to take us back to the hotel and my shins were very sore...Terri had hip problem so she opted out on the fossil hike and entertained herself exploring the villages. That was the end of Day one... Day two: The group was to meet at Osmington Mills, but do to some unforeseen circumstances; I opted out of Osmington and went back to Charmouth to have a go at the cliff line again...I'm glad I did since I found several pyrited ammonites and lots of belemnites...it was pretty neat. I didn't walk all the way down to Golden Cap, I actually went about 3/4 of the way there, turned around just beore the "rock garden"...it was amazing though the number of people walking the beach, and yet, I was still finding things after they went through...When I was walking the cliff line, I would look up a little above my head and I spotted a couple of ammonites that way...people don't seem to look up above shoulder height or below knee level...that's where I found most of my fossils. The fossils I found were mostly found in the clay which is older than the London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze and the stuff was just like the clay you may have played with back in school during art class...sticky as all get out. I had my "pokey tool" so I could carefully work out some of the items...several had fully pyritized and were broken though. All in all it was a great trip and I really enjoyed the Discoverying Fossil group.