Charmouth and Sunday
Fancy a fossil walk!? This is not a descriptor of this doing the walk but more what you might find on the walk. Being a weekend, the buses were more convoluted than normal, so we had to bus to Axminster then another bus the Charmouth, all timed somthatnwe would be at Charmouth by 10. This meant getting up and out by 7.15 to walk over to Seaton to get the first of the transport. With a sigh of relief after a short sharp walk from the centre of Charmouth to the coast, we made ourselves known at the Heritage Centre along with several other people and families. When all gathered, we had a shirt and interesting talk on the fossils to be found in the area. The dinosaur bones found in the area are not found anywhere else, and the amount and diversity of fossils found are quite unique. We had instructions in the sort of rocks to look for.... The grey uninteresting hard stones with perhaps a little white lip may well hold a crystalline ammonite. The little tubes to be found were actually the bones of squid. The dark brackish stone was called Beefstone and could hold an impression of an ammonite. Fossilised seaweed and wood could also be found. The day was glorious. Yes, the SUN was out! The Beach stretched out both sides of the centre. On one side the cliffs were tall and steep and o the other they were softer and more terraced. We were heading for the terraced side, as we were more protected in the case of rock fall. We were accompanied by experts, who also had those vey useful geological hammers to split the rocks. Two interesting hours followed while we and the others on the walk collected what we thought were interesting and took them to the experts who would tell us just what we were looking at. On many occasions, we were told that all we had was a pretty stone, but there was pyrites and chalcedony amongst those pretty stones. However, the young man with the hammer would often split the rocks so we could see inside, that's how my ammonite was discovered. If pyrites were to be found, ammonites might be near. I found a Beefstone ammonite lying on the sand, and some bellamites and a rock with part of an ammonite in it. All very fascinating in a great beach location, the tide going out almost unnoticed as we fossicked and searched. Later we joined the children's activity of ammonite polishing which was lots of fun. A while to wait for the bus, so the pub beckoned.
The trusty x53 bore us home. Beer is much busier as it is a holiday weekend and half term for the school children too. We had to cut out wifi time at the pub shirt as they needed our table for the eaters rather than just the wine drinkers!
Sunday, the bus services are even more scarce! So we felt a little more confident to,plan a walk that involved the x53 bus as they seem to run most of the time. After lengthy consultation with the map, we opted to go to Newton Poppleford, because we liked the name, and because our intention was to walk to Ottery St Mary, another nice name, but also supposed to be a nice place to. Another warm and sunny day! Two in a row! We were on the top of the double decker bus this time, which extended our views over the hedges of the narrow lanes. Past the piggery, and the donkey Sanctuary, with the morning sun casting its glow o re the country side. The walk was just the thing for a Sunday, flat, by the river, church bells ringing, past fields of yellow rape seed, and green corn, thatched cottages peeping through the trees, and all of that. We came a bit unstuck as we took the path past the mill as a bit further on, we met a sign saying that the lathe was closed due to the erosion of the river bank, so we retraced our steps. Ottery St Mary was going to be a bit of a hike now if we were to make the return journey to catch the bus, so we opted to go back to the previous village I'd Tipton St John, to sample the fare at the Golden Lion Pub. We think we have found the best ginger beer, it is a Luscombe brand called spicy ginger beer and like any good ginger beer should leave your mouth tingling. This did the trick.
We took a slightly different route back that took us along Parish pathways around the back of the village to the church. Another wait for the bus and we would like some kind person to donate a comfy seat at the bus stop at the start of Newton Poppleford for us seniors. Please. The bus had to contend in the small country lane down to Beer with the classic cars returning from a rally at Pecorama. We were at the front of the bus upstairs and ducked instinctively as low hanging branches hit the roof. Home in time for a nana nap, a short one anyway!
Charmouth and Sunday
Fancy a fossil walk!? This is not a descriptor of this doing the walk but more what you might find on the walk. Being a weekend, the buses were more convoluted than normal, so we had to bus to Axminster then another bus the Charmouth, all timed somthatnwe would be at Charmouth by 10. This meant getting up and out by 7.15 to walk over to Seaton to get the first of the transport. With a sigh of relief after a short sharp walk from the centre of Charmouth to the coast, we made ourselves known at the Heritage Centre along with several other people and families. When all gathered, we had a shirt and interesting talk on the fossils to be found in the area. The dinosaur bones found in the area are not found anywhere else, and the amount and diversity of fossils found are quite unique. We had instructions in the sort of rocks to look for.... The grey uninteresting hard stones with perhaps a little white lip may well hold a crystalline ammonite. The little tubes to be found were actually the bones of squid. The dark brackish stone was called Beefstone and could hold an impression of an ammonite. Fossilised seaweed and wood could also be found. The day was glorious. Yes, the SUN was out! The Beach stretched out both sides of the centre. On one side the cliffs were tall and steep and o the other they were softer and more terraced. We were heading for the terraced side, as we were more protected in the case of rock fall. We were accompanied by experts, who also had those vey useful geological hammers to split the rocks. Two interesting hours followed while we and the others on the walk collected what we thought were interesting and took them to the experts who would tell us just what we were looking at. On many occasions, we were told that all we had was a pretty stone, but there was pyrites and chalcedony amongst those pretty stones. However, the young man with the hammer would often split the rocks so we could see inside, that's how my ammonite was discovered. If pyrites were to be found, ammonites might be near. I found a Beefstone ammonite lying on the sand, and some bellamites and a rock with part of an ammonite in it. All very fascinating in a great beach location, the tide going out almost unnoticed as we fossicked and searched. Later we joined the children's activity of ammonite polishing which was lots of fun. A while to wait for the bus, so the pub beckoned.
The trusty x53 bore us home. Beer is much busier as it is a holiday weekend and half term for the school children too. We had to cut out wifi time at the pub shirt as they needed our table for the eaters rather than just the wine drinkers!
Sunday, the bus services are even more scarce! So we felt a little more confident to,plan a walk that involved the x53 bus as they seem to run most of the time. After lengthy consultation with the map, we opted to go to Newton Poppleford, because we liked the name, and because our intention was to walk to Ottery St Mary, another nice name, but also supposed to be a nice place to. Another warm and sunny day! Two in a row! We were on the top of the double decker bus this time, which extended our views over the hedges of the narrow lanes. Past the piggery, and the donkey Sanctuary, with the morning sun casting its glow o re the country side. The walk was just the thing for a Sunday, flat, by the river, church bells ringing, past fields of yellow rape seed, and green corn, thatched cottages peeping through the trees, and all of that. We came a bit unstuck as we took the path past the mill as a bit further on, we met a sign saying that the lathe was closed due to the erosion of the river bank, so we retraced our steps. Ottery St Mary was going to be a bit of a hike now if we were to make the return journey to catch the bus, so we opted to go back to the previous village I'd Tipton St John, to sample the fare at the Golden Lion Pub. We think we have found the best ginger beer, it is a Luscombe brand called spicy ginger beer and like any good ginger beer should leave your mouth tingling. This did the trick.
We took a slightly different route back that took us along Parish pathways around the back of the village to the church. Another wait for the bus and we would like some kind person to donate a comfy seat at the bus stop at the start of Newton Poppleford for us seniors. Please. The bus had to contend in the small country lane down to Beer with the classic cars returning from a rally at Pecorama. We were at the front of the bus upstairs and ducked instinctively as low hanging branches hit the roof. Home in time for a nana nap, a short one anyway!
Glad the old fossils were let out of the visitor centre!
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