DOCSLIB.ORG

Spotlight on Upton Wood

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Spotlight on Upton Wood Dorset Countryside No 181 August - October 2017 Volunteers Reg Charity No 1071723 www.dcv.org.uk Who we are, what we do, where, why and how . DCV is . A DCV day lasts . • A practical conservation group run by volunteers • 10.00a.m. – 5.00p.m. approximately including since 1972 doing practical work in the breaks for drinks (which are supplied) and lunch countryside that would not otherwise be done (please bring your own lunch) • Volunteers are male and female, from all walks of life and from all over the county FINDING DCV . • Work is seasonal, e.g. woodlands in winter - hedgelaying, coppicing; in summer dry stone walling, clearing ponds, footpath work • Maps with the task programme (at the back of this newsletter) show the locations of task sites • Organisations we work for include: Dorset Wildlife Trust, Heritage Coast Project, Natural • DCV website dcv.org.uk England, Amphibian Reptile Conservation Trust • Facebook • We work at weekends throughout Dorset • Look for DCV’s yellow arrows near the worksite or the DCV information board may show an • No super-human strength or special skills needed, or attendance on every task or even for explanatory note the whole weekend - any time is a bonus for us • If unsure of the worksite try to arrive by 10.00 to and for you! meet other volunteers. The worksite may be some way off. Lost? give us a call on 07929 961532 DCV offers . (after 10.00 a.m.) ring longer than normal FOOD & DRINK • Practical care for the environment • Opportunity to learn new skills - training given • Use of all necessary tools • Please bring your own lunch • Beautiful countryside, social events, fun & • DCV provides free hot/cold drinks and biscuits companionship during the day - bring your own mug if you wish • Occasionally DCV may hold a shared lunch or YOU should bring . supper (aka bring a dish) when it is usual for people to bring some food to share around • Stout footwear (steel toecaps if possible) • Old clothes (wear layers) Long trousers and • Note: If you have a medical condition or allergies sleeves are best of any sort, please carry a card and bring • Tough gloves (we have some to sell/lend) necessary medicines. If you wish, bring this to the • Waterproofs, sun block, sun hat, insect repellent attention of the task leader. Please complete the • Lunch and some water “in case of emergency” details at the end of the • Don’t forget an up to date tetanus jab newsletter, and bring on task. “In case of emergency details” can be inserted into a small key Reaching a task . fob which can be attached to your rucksack. Key fobs are available from Richard Meatyard. • If you need, or can offer, a lift phone Richard Meatyard or Peter Warren 3 days before a task • All youngsters are welcome, but should be • Lifts from Wool station (toolstore is nearby) accompanied by a responsible adult. • Travel links: http://www.morebus.co.uk/ https://www.dorsetforyou.com/travel-dorset/rail EDITORIAL Looking back over the past quarter we’ve had some really great tasks and social events and we hope that plenty of you have got out there and made the most of them. The next programme too promises to be another interesting mix, so whilst you’re on a roll, make sure you put them in your diary. In hindsight, some of the most memorable and satisfying tasks have been the hardest, but these have also been the most rewarding and fulfilling, with a sense of achievement at the end of the day. Pop up socials are spontaneous events suggested on the day by volunteers - it’s a way of rewarding people who are out there doing the work on the day. So far this summer we’ve enjoyed spectacular coastal scenery on our guided walk down at the old Seacombe quarries, stopping off at the pub after a hard and hot day’s step building and a cream tea after walling. DCV’s AGM will be on Saturday 9th September. The evening usually takes the form of very brief business, followed by a shared supper and finally a talk related to the work that we do. It is also a bit of a reunion with the chance to meet up with members seen infrequently. With two pond tasks this quarter, just a reminder of the clean boot policy relating to ponds and watercourses. Please remember check - clean - dry wellington boots and waders before entering the water. This helps prevent spread of disease and non native plants. We’ve had quite a few new people come out with the group recently and would like to welcome them to DCV—Richard, Geoff, Sharon & Ian, Serena and Akiko. No doubt parts of the DCV seem very strange, but you will get used to it and we do get to some wonderful places. September sees our friends from Association Orchis arriving in Dorset for a weekend of shared work and socialising. This is the 20th anniversary of the link with Orchis, quite an achievement, so do come along to welcome them on the task and evening dinner. DCV is a group of volunteers run by volunteers. Suggestions and input from members are welcomed and valued; as a group we are open to new ideas, ways of doing things and member involvement. Not everything always goes according to plan but we always do a good job and have a very good reputation among our clients of which we should be proud. Sometimes designated work is finished and sometimes not due to a lack of volunteers on the day, particularly some of the more remote tasks. Thanks are due to those who have been out to work this quarter, particularly on some of the harder tasks. Co-ordinator’s report Richard Meatyard This newsletter brings us to the intermediates, built a stile and breaks most chose to adjourn to late summer quarter heading into retensioned the wire. We are the nearby pub at the end of each autumn and with it a return to the expecting to do similar fencing day before heading homewards. repairs at South Poorton along more wintery tasks. Those that We have had a bit of a chequered with the more familiar thistle participated in some of the more history with our previous cutting that is our usual fare challenging tasks will confirm that boardwalk effort for the National there. summer definitely made itself felt Trust on Studland but on this during these. It has been a Our resumption of our walling occasion the planning was spot programme of mostly repairs as Swyre got off to a on. All the materials were on-site, constructional activities and rocky start. Rain greeted our decking boards cut to length and invasives, although once again arrival on site and got the simple floating design was Himalayan Balsam hasn’t progressively heavier as the day soon taking shape, a nice sinuous featured. For some this must be a wore on resulting in an early one to avoid the trees. With some relief but it’s a shame that all our finish to the day as even the additional help from some NT efforts along the Hooke are now stalwarts admitted defeat. volunteers on Saturday and willing for naught. Fortunately the weather was DCV members the two sections Our visit to Abbotsbury for the kinder to us on our next visit and were completed in the two days. with near ideal conditions good “Great Dorset Beach clean” was Our other visit to Studland was for progress was made, previously well supported and the beach was our now annual Ragwort & BBQ. started sections completed and a much cleaner than previous years The Saturday numbers were new section stripped out ready so for the first time in several swelled by some of the NT’s the visit, coming up in this years we cleaned from the Tank regular volunteers and the programme. Traps, our traditional start point, prospect of the after task BBQ at most of the way down towards It has been awhile since we did Middle Beach. This resulted in an West Bexington and even then any stone step building or early completion of the fields only had about half the usual repairs. Fortunately for the first of around the village and a short number of bags to show by the these tasks it was a near ideal beach clean to fill time until the end of the day. site, Bindon Hill, giving us an BBQ. Perhaps as a result of this Work on our fencing project at opportunity to brush up on part Sunday numbers were just 5 for Higher Hyde Heath has been forgotten skills. The materials the attack on the fields around progressing well this year with 4 had been dropped off at the foot Greenlands Farm. of the flight to be built, ground visits, a total of 6 working days by Although Loscombe is a delightful conditions were perfect for then end of our last visit; the end remote site, one of the few places cutting step beds and the of the task is now in sight. All the in Dorset where there is no traffic excavated material ideal for back strainers are now in and if all goes noise, cutting and pulling thistles filling. Over the two days we to plan we hope to complete the under a blazing sun has rather stripped out and made good an task in the Spring next year, limited appeal and turnout was, old flight of 9 steps and built a although there is a slight possibility limited, shall we say.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • X.—On the Chalk and Sands Beneath It {Usually Termed Green-Sand) in the Vicinity of Lyme Regis, Dorset, and Beer, Devon
    Downloaded from http://trn.lyellcollection.org/ at University of St Andrews on March 24, 2015 X.—On the Chalk and Sands beneath it {usually termed Green-sand) in the Vicinity of Lyme Regis, Dorset, and Beer, Devon. BY H. T. DE LA BECHE, ESQ. F.R., L. and G. S.S., ETC. [Read December 16th, 1825.] XN presenting' an account of the manner in which the above rocks occur in. the vicinity of Lyme Regis and Beer, I by no means wish to engage in the discussion which has arisen respecting Green-sand; but merely to describe the rocks, as they exist in that neighbourhood. At the same time, I consider it as much to be regretted, that some general term is not given to the sands, marls, and clays which occur beneath the Chalk, as has been done in the case of the Oolite formation: the various parts might then be distinguished by different specific names, and there would be no more impropriety in grouping the Green and Ferruginous sands together, than in uniting under one term the various members of the Oolite formation, and distinguishing them by the names of Great and Inferior oolite, Kimmeridge and Oxford clays*, &c. Some such arrangement as this would prevent much uncertainty: for at pre­ sent when the term Green-sand is used alone, without further distinction, we may be led to confound two different things. Moreover, we are in want of a general appellation by which to denote these rocks collectively; for we are not to suppose that all the small divisions that may be made in this collection of sands, marls, and clays in the east of England, can be traced into other and distant countries, where, however, the sands, &c., as a mass may be easily recognised.
    [Show full text]
  • Autumn 2009 Free Issue No
    Autumn 2009 Free Issue no. 7 no. Issue A mini version of Tower Bridge and a brontosaurus Photo-montage by Tim Heap straddling the water were two of the more tongue-in- be rustic, constructed of timber, appreciably wider with cheek suggestions put to the design team visiting passing places, extended so as to avoid the mud, and to Charmouth on September 10th. Representatives from have an arched elevation similar to the current design. Dorset Engineering Consultancy, the Coastal Ranger team, and the artists, Sans facon, met with District and Parish According to Sans facon, the artists, they do not start from Councillors, adjacent businesses and over 40 locals eager to a preconceived aesthetic: their approach consists of share their thoughts and concerns regarding the understanding a context, from its physical and social replacement footbridge over the Char river. location to the uses and functions of the place. Rather than parachute in ideas or recipes from somewhere else, they People spoke of the natural beauty of the landscape, the aim to utilise and integrate their response ideas within the importance of the geology of the area and the need for a specific quality of the location. The Velator viewing platform new structure that will sit comfortably within its rural they created in Devon (www.sansfacon.co.uk/vel/vel.html) surroundings. The general consensus was that the bridge illustrates this by drawing inspiration from and responding directly to the site and its essence. They will be working in close collaboration with the engineers and the rest of the ‘Palaeontology in Charmouth’ team to develop a joint design.
    [Show full text]
  • Devon Branch Newsletter
    Devon Branch www.devon-butterflies.org.uk Aberrant Small Tortoiseshell photographed in a garden in Talaton, East Devon (Pam Weston) Newsletter Issue Number 95 February 2016 Butterfly Copy dates: 1st January, 1st May, 1st September for publication in February, Conservation June, and October in each year. DevonBranch Contributions for the newsletter are al- ways welcome. Please send them to the Editor (address at back of newsletter). Accompanying images are especially welcome. The Editor reserves the right to correct errors in, adjust, or shorten articles if necessary, for the sake of accuracy, presentation and space available. Offer- Newsletter ings may occasionally be held over for a later newsletter if space is short. The Newsletter of Butterfly Conservation Devon Branch The views expressed by contributors published three times a year. are not necessarily those of the Editor or of Butterfly Conservation either locally or nationally. Contents Obituary: Phil Cook 3 Members’ Day and AGM 4 Waitrose supports Woodland Pearls 16 The Worries of a Wildlife Watcher 17 BC National Outstanding Volunteer Award 18 East Devon Undercliffs & Coast news 18 The Butterfly Year in Haiku 19 Committee and contacts 20 Editorial My diary has quotations for each week and the first for the year reads: “I am I plus my surroundings and if I do not preserve the latter I do not preserve my- self” (Jose Ortega y Gasset, Spanish writer and philosopher). An appropriate quotation for any conservationist. I found autumn exceptionally quiet butterfly wise which was surprising consid- ering that it stayed mild late. Where were the crowds of late butterflies on the Ivy flowers especially on sunny coasts? In the first week of October down on 2 the coast near Slapton in warm sunny weather, countless “terraces “ of flowering Ivy on the cliffs were bare of butterflies.
    [Show full text]
  • Lyme Regis Environmental Improvements
    Lyme Regis Environmental Improvements SCOPAC 18 June 2014 Summary of the problems • Much of town built on pre-existing landslides. • Coastal erosion and foreshore lowering. • Coast protection structures deteriorating. • Beaches small fraction of former size. • Local climate getting wetter. • Drainage systems in poor state. • Long-term future of the town under threat 93000 94100 91800 333500 334500 332500 Lyme Regis Environmental Improvements: The Spittles Phase III Monmouth Beach Black Ven and Ware Cliffs Phase V Phase II Phase I Phase IV The Cobb Cobb Gate to Cobb Gate to East Cliff Harbour Church Cliff (2007) (1995) LREI: Phase 1 – Cobb Gate to Church Cliff Construction of the new pumping station LREI: Phase 1 – Cobb Gate to Church Cliff The completed scheme Lyme Regis Environmental Improvements Phase 2 – Cobb Gate to Harbour Completed 2007 at a cost of £26m Funded by Defra grant, Dorset County Council and West Dorset District Council - Replacement and extension of Beacon Rocks - New sea walls, extending the Cart Road - Beach Replenishment to protect the town frontage - Stabilisation of coastal slopes along the town frontage - Stabilisation and improvement of Cobb Road HR Wallingford - physical model used to test scheme options 1:50 scale physical model in a 50m x 35m wave basin Lyme Regis Environmental Improvements Phase 2 – Cobb Gate to Harbour LREI: Phase 2 – Cobb Gate to Harbour Beacon Rocks Extension LREI: Phase 2 Completed Rockery & Beacon Rocks Sand and Shingle Supply: Phase II 400 ton capacity side tipping vessels 70,000 tonnes
    [Show full text]
  • April 18Th to 22Nd, 1889
    xxvi VISIT TO THE MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS. These and other so-called wingless birds-their rudimentary wings being nscless for flight-probably lost the use of these organs from living where they had no enemies from which to fly, thereby escaping the dangers incident to flight; so that those that could not fly would have better chances of living than those that could. These examples will serve to illustrate the nature of the very pleasant and instructive meeting we had at the College, for which the President proposed a vote of thanks to Prof. Stewart, which was cordially responded to. The party then broke up, but still continued for some time longer to inspect the specimens. EASTER EXCURSION. PRELIMINARY EXCURSION TO LYME REGIS. APRIL 18TH TO 22ND, 1889. Director: HORACE B. WOODWARD, F.G.S., of the Geological Survey of England and Wales. (Report by THE DIRECTOR.) Hardly any place in the British Isles is richer in features of geological interest than Lyme Begis; yet, hitherto, the Asso­ ciation had paid it no visit. On two occasions when Excursions had been arranged in the neighbourhood, the Members had come within a walking distance of the town. Thus, in 1871, under the guidance of Professor Buckman and Mr. Lobley, some Members went from Yeovil to Seaton and examined the cliffs for a short distance eastwards. '" Again, in 1885, when your present Director had the honour of conducting a party from Bridport, the Members examined the cliff-sections from Burton Bradstock to Eype, east of Thorncombe Beacon. t The trip now undertaken served to complete the examination of this portion of our coast.
    [Show full text]
  • Uplyme Church Simply by Shopping Online? More and More People Are Shopping Online, from Groceries to Clothing, from Utilities to Holidays
    2014 DELIVERED FREE TO EVERY More Coffee Curate..! HOME IN THE PARISH A voluntary contribution towards production costs of Uplyme Together...! the magazine is always gratefully appreciated. Si-the-Fish....! 1 Worship in April and the beginning of May ! ! April 6th 10am Morning Worship with Communion (+Junior Church) 6pm Evening worship Palm Sunday 13th 10am Morning Worship (All Age) 6pm Evening worship with Agape ! Maundy Thursday th 17 7pm Worship with Communion ! Good Friday 18th 11am Worship (AXMOUTH CHURCH) ! Easter Sunday 20th 10am Morning Worship with Communion (All Age) 6pm Evening worship ! th 27 10am Morning Worship (+Junior Church) 6pm Evening Worship with Agape May 4th 10am Morning Worship with Communion (+Junior Church) 6pm Evening worship ! 11th 10am Morning Worship (+Junior Church) 6pm Evening worship with Communion ! ! FROM THE REGISTERS Baptisms/ Thanksgivings: nil Marriages/Blessings: nil Funerals/ Thanksgivings: th 26 February: John Manfield, burial of ashes 17th March: Betty Broad, Thanksgiving and burial of ashes. Parish News Deadlines Please remember the next issue of the magazine is for May and all articles up to and including things for early June should be with us by the 10th April Email to - [email protected] 2 CONTENTS Service Times & from The Register Inside Front Cover Contents 1 More Coffee Curate...? 2 From the Editor 3 Priming the Pump 4 Notices & Events 5 Out & About with John Pennington 6 Adverts 7 Adverts 8 Horticultural Society 9 Why Easter will never go away 10 Diana Shervington 11 1st Lym Valley Scout Group 12 The Full Poodle 13 Uplyme Pre-School 14 Local Notices 15 Uplyme WI & National Trust 16 Why all the Drama 17 Brownies & British Legion 18 Village Hall Booking Dates 19 Si-the-Fish & The mobile Library 20 Adverts 21 Adverts 22 In the Garden with Nigel Ball 23 Trinity Matters 24 Trinity Matters 25 Parish Council Report 26 Parish Council Report & The Philpot Museum 27 Uplyme Together 28 Local Adverts Inside Back Cover 3 More Coffee Curate...? Slow down, Look up ‘Slow down, you move too fast.
    [Show full text]
  • West Dorset Coast
    COUNTY: DORSET SITE NAME: WEST DORSET COAST DISTRICT: WEST DORSET Status: Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) notified under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as amended Local Planning Authority: WEST DORSET DISTRICT COUNCIL, Dorset County Council National Grid Reference: SY 333913ÐSY 498885 Area: 596.3 (ha.) 1473.5 (ac.) Ordnance Survey Sheet 1:50,000: 193, 194 1:10,000: SY 39 SW, SY 39 SE, SY 49 SW, SY 49 SE, SY 48 NE Date Notified (Under 1949 Act): 1952 Date of Last Revision: 1911 Date Notified (Under 1981 Act): 1991 Date of Last Revision: Ð Other Information: Formerly notified as West Dorset Coast and Ware Cliffs SSSI: site boundary amended by extensions and deletions. The site includes the previously and separately notified Newlands Batch SSSI. Within Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and West Dorset Heritage Coast. The site is contiguous with Axmouth to Lyme Regis Undercliffs SSSI to the west and Chesil and the Fleet SSSI to the east. Much of the site is owned by the National Trust (Golden Cap Estate). The site includes 12 Geological Conservation Review localities. Description and Reasons for Notification: The West Dorset Coast between Chesil Beach and Devonshire Head near Lyme Regis is an internationally important geological site, particularly famous for its fossil reptiles. The varied undercliffs have a wide range of habitats which support a number of rare plants and animals. Adjoining the coastline are unusually large areas of herb-rich grassland of a type now very restricted in occurrence. Geology The seacliffs at this site are of outstanding international importance to geology, and one of the most important British localities.
    [Show full text]
  • Thee Gi Eeringgeologyof the Sidmouth District 1 : 50 000
    ------- -- - --- BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY THE E GI EERING GEOLOGY OF THE SIDMOUTH DISTRICT 1 : 50 000 GEOLOGICAL SHEET 326/340 This report has been generated from a scanned image of the document with any blank pages removed at the scanning stage. Please be aware that the pagination and scales of diagrams or maps in the resulting report may not appear as in the original BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY TECHNICAL REPORT WN/98/1 THE ENGINEERING GEOLOGY OF THE SIDMOUTH DISTRICT 1:50000 GEOLOGICAL SHEET 326/340 A. Forster Author A. Forster. B.G.S. Keyworth. Maps and diagrams used in this report are based on Ordnance Survey mapping. Bibliographic reference Forster, A. 1998. The Engineering Geology ofthe Sidmouth District, 1: 50 000 Geological Sheet 326/340. British Geological Survey, Technical Report WN/98/1. (c) NERC copyright 1998. keyworth, Nott~gham, British Geological Survey This page is blank CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 ENGINEERING GEOLOGY OF BEDROCK MATERIALS 2 The Chalk Upper Greensand Gault Middle Lias Lower Lias Penarth Group Westbury Formation Mercia Mudstone Group Sherwood Sandstone Group Otter Sandstone Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds Aylesbeare Mudstone Group Littleham Mudstone Formation ENGINEERING GEOLOGY OF SUPERFICIAL MATERIALS 8 River Terrace Deposits Head Clay with Flints Alluvium (excluding gravel) Marin~ Dep~~it~ . LANDSLIDES 12 Classification and description oflandslides 1. Free falls under gravity 12 2. Flows 12 a. Seepage erosion b. Wash c. Mudflow d. Gully flows. e. Sheet flows f Sand runs 3. Translational movement 14 SHALLOW SEATED MOVEMENT Mudslides DEEP SEATED MOVEMENT Lateral translation or spreading failure 4. Rotational movements 15 Causes oflandslides 16 Factors which increase stress 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Census 1871 – Sub District Lyme
    https://www.lymeregismuseum.co.uk/research Census 1871 – Sub District Lyme Graham Davies and Richard Wells, January 2021 Superintendent Registrar’s District – Axminster, Devon and Dorset Registrar’s Sub-District – Lyme in the Counties of Devon and Dorset The Registrar has to submit a proposed Plan of Division of his Sub-District Lyme into Enumeration Districts. This plan must be forwarded by the Registrar to the Superintendent Registrar before February 11th, 1871, and by the Superintendent Registrar to the Census Office before February 21st, for the approval of the Registrar General. Sub-District Lyme is divided into 5 Enumeration Districts, each of which has its own enumerator. (see Appendix A) 1. Charmouth Parish The whole of the Parish of Charmouth including all the houses on each side of the Turnpike road which runs through the village, the three Leaze’s, Yendover Meadow, Higherfields, the Preventive Station and manor coast land and stone quarries bounded by the Sea to the junction of the Old and New roads, Lilly Farm, Westfield, Langmoor House, and Plantations, Fernhill, Langmoor Mead, Goyle Wood, 4 Acres Batch Mead, Charmouth Mead, Middle Mead, Mill Fields and the Flour Mills. Estimated number of inhabited houses – 140 Estimated number of separate families - 160 Enumerator: Daniel Board (55), assistant overseer and tax collector, lives in Lower Sea Lane, Charmouth. 2. Lyme Parish Part of the Parish of Lyme comprising all the houses from the Assembly Rooms bounded by the sea along the Marine Parade, the Houses at the Cobb to the
    [Show full text]
  • Dorset Butterfly Report for 2015
    Butterfly Conservation Dorset Branch Newsletter No 82 Dorset Butterfly Report for 2015 www.dorsetbutterflies.com 36 Counting butterflies Dorset Branch Who’s Who President Website From Nigel Spring, Dorset Branch Chair Brian Dicker* Lyn Pullen* Wincanton. 01963 32453 Winfrith Newburgh. 01305 Welcome to our 2015 Butterfly Report. We hope you 853946 enjoy the new super-colour format! Butterflies are [email protected] [email protected] such stunning colourful creatures that it seems logical that our publications should be in full colour Chair & Reserves Manager Newsletter too. Many other branches have already gone over to Nigel Spring* Jane Smith* Sherborne. 01935 814029 this format and with the recent huge changes in print Sherborne. 01963 23559 or 07981 776767 [email protected] technology, the cost of colour is very little more than that of black and [email protected] white. We would welcome members’ comments on this. Health & Safety As in previous years, the 2015 records show both gains and losses. Some Secretary, Garden Records & Keith Howland* of these are part of regular fluctuations but some of them are far more Wider Countryside Survey Pimperne. dramatic. It is wonderful to see how well the large gaudy species fared in Adrian Neil* [email protected] 2015 - species like the Brimstone and the Silver-washed and Dark Green Preston, Weymouth. Fritillaries. As in a Painted Lady year (we are still looking forward to the 01305 832937 Committee Member next one!), having large colourful butterflies easily visible in our [email protected] Richard Norman* Sturminster Newton. countryside is a very good way to generate interest among the public.
    [Show full text]
  • A Fossil Landslide Preserved Offshore at Lyme Regis, Dorset, UK
    R.W. Gallois A FOSSIL LANDSLIDE PRESERVED OFFSHORE AT LYME REGIS , D ORSET , UK R.W. G ALLOIS Gallois, R.W. 2011. A fossil landslide preserved offshore at Lyme Regis, Dorset, UK. Geoscience in South-West England , 12 , 329-334. Multidisciplinary studies carried out in advance of site investigations of the areas at Lyme Regis, Dorset most threatened by a combination of landslides and marine erosion included sidescan-sonar, bathymetric and seismic-reflection surveys in the adjacent offshore area. These revealed a large area (over 1500 m long x 700 m wide) 500 to 700 m offshore from the present-day coastline in which an irregular sea bed is strewn with rock debris. This area is underlain by a layer of heterogeneous material up to 30 m thick with traces of disturbed bedding and shear planes. Comparison of the stratigraphy and structure of the underlying in situ beds, as determined from seismic-reflection surveys, suggests that the disturbed material is the residue from a single large (> 10 million tonnes) landslide that resulted from a shear failure in seaward-dipping mudstones in the lower part of the Jurassic Charmouth Mudstone Formation. A reconstruction of the geology immediately prior to the landslide indicates that the failure occurred at a time when the cliff line was c. 350 m south of its present position, possibly in the mid Holocene 5000 to 6000 year ago when sea level was sufficiently high to re-erode a Pleistocene cliff line. 92 Stoke Valley Road, Exeter, Devon, EX4 5ER, U.K. (E-mail: [email protected]).
    [Show full text]
  • MONMOUTH BEACH to PINHAY BAY, LYME REGIS, DORSET
    MONMOUTH BEACH to PINHAY BAY, LYME REGIS, DORSET INTRODUCTION TO MONMOUTH BEACH Thank you for enrolling on our fossil hunting event. THE GEOLOGY To the west of the Cobb at Lyme Regis is The distinctive cliffs of layered limestone and shale is Monmouth Beach and here the famous rocks present, particularly at Ware Cliffs. of the Blue Lias Formation extend west to Pinhay Bay. This is the birthplace of The Blue Lias Formation consists of hard layers of palaeontology and where the young Mary limestones and shales and occupies much of the base level Anning began her famous life, collecting of cliffs around Lyme Regis and on the ledges, seen on the fossils to sell to the visiting gentry. foreshore at low tide. The distinctive cliffs of layered limestone and Above the Blue Lias, the Shales-with-Beef Member (part of shale is present, particularly at Ware Cliffs. the Charmouth Mudstone Formation) can be seen and Fossil collecting should be only attempted on consists largely of dark mudstones, with mostly crushed the foreshore, as the cliffs are highly unstable fossils. The overlying Shales-with-Beef and Black Ven Marl and prone to collapse. Members, only appear on the foreshore as accumulations of displaced rock, shales and clay. These overlying strata are However, the foreshore should provide you better seen east of Lyme Regis and towards Charmouth. with opportunities to find fossils which have fallen and now lie in the rock pools and The coastline here has been dramatically reshaped due to a amongst the boulders and rocks. Ammonites, series of large landslides in the past.
    [Show full text]