Agesalmost As Old As Time Itself, the West Dorset Coastline Tells Many
EXPLORING BRITAIN’ S COASTLINE H ERE MAY BE DAYS when, standing on the beach at TCharmouth, in the shadow of the cliffs behind, with the spray crashing against the shore and the wind whistling past your ears, it is ROCKS OF hard to imagine the place as it was 195 million years ago.The area was Almost as old as time itself, the west a tropical sea back then, teeming with strange and wonderful creatures. It is Dorset coastline tells many stories. a difficult concept to get your head around but the evidence lies around Robert Yarham and photographer Kim your feet and in the crumbling soft mud and clay face of the cliffs. AGES Disturbed by the erosion caused by Sayer uncover just a few of them. the spray and wind, hundreds of small – and very occasionally, large – fossils turn up here.The most common fossils that passers-by can encounter are ammonites (the curly ones), belemnites (the pointy ones); and, rarely, a few rarities surface, such as ABOVE Locals and tourists alike head for the beaches by Charmouth, where today’s catch is a good deal less intimidating than the creatures that swam the local seas millions of years ago. MAIN PICTURE The layers of sand deposited by the ancient oceans can be clearly seen in the great cliffs of Thorncombe Beacon (left) and West Cliff, near Bridport. A37 A35 A352 Bridport A35 Dorchester Charmouth A354 Lyme Regis Golden Cap Abbotsbury Osmington Mills Swannery Ringstead Bay The Fleet Weymouth Chesil Beach Portland Harbour Portland Castle orth S N I L 10 Miles L Isle of Portland O H D I V A The Bill D icthyosaurs or plesiosaurs – huge, cottages attract hordes of summer predatory, fish-like reptiles that swam visitors.They are drawn by the the ancient seas about 200 million picturesque setting and the famous years ago during the Jurassic period.
[Show full text]