Here be Dragons - not really but it's a cool title

I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky. I left my shoes and socks there, I wonder if they’re dry (Thank you Spike Milligan).

The sky was blue, the sun was shining and the wind had dropped to a gentle 20mph.

So I thought I would go on a fossil hunt. I think the last time I did this was probably on the Isle of Wight and I was knee high to an ammonite!

Having done some research (but not enough as it turned out) I decided to head to Barton on Sea and walk to Highcliffe following the deposits of Barton Clay (grey and brown clays of the Upper Eocene age - around 40 million years old).

After parking in the car park at the top of the cliffs I headed down to the beach only to find that the foot path was closed because of the unstable cliffs. So I walked down the scree and stones to get to the beach.

 

This was not to be the last hurdle I was going to face on my morning adventure. The other thing I discovered is that Barton Clay is soft, I mean sink to your knees pull your boots off soft. It also sticks like excrement to a blanket!

Anyway despite the setbacks I found some very delicate shells :-

Dentalium - Tusk Shells

Volutospina - Volute

Archimediella - Turritella

All in all I had a great morning, I got covered in mud, and I made some brilliant discoveries - holding the remains of animals that lived 40 million years ago, reaching back across the millenia and connecting with something so distant.

However a few lessons were learnt, or in this case lessons were remembered. Firstly, always double check the route you want to follow. You never know when it might be closed. Secondly, take some spare footwear with you. There was no way I was going to drive in boots compacted in clay and shingle. They also weighed about 40lb each!

And finally, and probably most importantly, take someone with you who knows what they're doing and knows the area. Anyway, it was a lovely morning and it was great to be out and about. Plus my boots are clean now 

Hopefully on my next adventure I'll come away with something bigger - I'll settle for a stegosaurus!