Forums > Social Chat > Fossil Hunting and similar fun things..?

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nearly_all_goneSILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
1,626 posts
Location: Southampton, United Kingdom


Posted:
I'm trying to find stuff to do which is fun and free, except for transport, in the UK. Walking, hiking, that's all good and fun, but I'd like to do something more rewarding. I was wondering if anyone had any tips on fossil hunting or anything similar to that on the south coast of the UK (not south west, but anywhere else along the coast). I'd also love to know about and shell beaches... you know the kind, beaches where you can't move for shells and there are interesting ones like cowries and such.. Thanks. I've been searching the web for ages but haven't found much for the casual enthusiast of fun.



Apart from fire, obviously, but then I know how much fun that is biggrin

What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other's eyes for an instant.
Thoreau


flidBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,136 posts
Location: Warwickshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
lots to be found on the beaches around Lyme Regis. If you do a search you'll find loads of info online. Myself and Sir_Sheep sat at the bottom of a cliff this summer with little rock hammers, but several hours and many blisters later we'd only found a few anomites. The really interesting stuff is found by professionals with death wishes, who go out during storms and land slips to find stuff. They of course have proper drills and other devices which are totally cheating. If you search even harder you'll find a Lyme bay HoP contingent, so you may even get a spin on the beach if you visit with your hammer wink

nearly_all_goneSILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
1,626 posts
Location: Southampton, United Kingdom


Posted:
Ah, I was worried that'd be the case. I don't mind though - finding something is better than finding nothing! I'm just a natural scavenger and could quite happily spend days at a time pacing the beach finding shells and frosted glass and stuff... I just really enjoy it. I'll check out Lyme Regis, thanks! I really just had no idea where to start with these things!

What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other's eyes for an instant.
Thoreau


ado-pGOLD Member
Pirate Ninja
3,882 posts
Location: Galway/Ireland


Posted:
just dont spin hammers....

coz that would hurt...

Love is the law.


FabergGOLD Member
veteran
1,459 posts
Location: Dublin, Ireland


Posted:
what are you gonna do with all the shells & stuff? make things?

if you like making stuff, you can also look out for pieces of driftwood to carve. you don't even need to be good at carving wood. driftwood often comes in such strange shapes already, very little carving necessary, bit of sanding, polishing, staining perhaps..... get my drift? wink

you could also dig in the sand for fulgurites

make yourself a kite and and see how high you can get it to fly on the beach.... endless fun....

sketch.... paint...? beaches are wonderful places for drawing/painting as the colours in the landscape change continuously

try your hand at sandsculpting....

lots of free entertainment to be had on beaches ubbrollsmile

My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely smile


SpitFireGOLD Member
Mand's Girl....and The Not So Shy One
2,723 posts
Location: Calgary, Alberta Canada


Posted:
Doh...see...I'm useless when it comes to UK geology since I haven't really studied it.

What I recall...the beaches are gravel beaches, and most of the gravel seems to be chert (microcrystaline quartz) that washed out of some of the chalk cliffs....I think.

You might want to look at some of the University Geology department sites for UK Schools. They often do field trips for fossils and minerals and such...

Solitude sometimes speaks to you, and you should listen.


nearly_all_goneSILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
1,626 posts
Location: Southampton, United Kingdom


Posted:
Thanks for all the advice people! Good plans Fab.. Fulgurites are cool! Never heard (or thought) of that before... I'm gonna try and get some smile And carving sounds like fun, I've never tried but driftwood is plentiful and beautiful. The shells and things I find.. well, they usually end up in jars on shelves and thigs, so perhaps making something of them is another good idea!

Spitfire - That;s a really good idea. I'm going to get on local uni websites and check out some geology departments - thanks a lot!

What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other's eyes for an instant.
Thoreau


Sir_Sheepold hand
725 posts
Location: Chester, UK


Posted:
You forgot the small rockslide we witnessed flid

Spoiling Christmas for small children since 2003.


flidBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,136 posts
Location: Warwickshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
Surely sulgurites are only really found on dunes and in deserts? If lightening strikes on a normal coastline it'll hit the clifftop not the beach

EeraBRONZE Member
old hand
1,107 posts
Location: In a test pit, Mackay, Australia


Posted:
Lyme is a little bit overrated now as all the decent stuff gets hoovered up by the professionals, you have to be there soon after a storm or rockslide to get anything other than a few brachiopods these days.



You might want to have a look at the Jurassic/Cretaceous sections on the Isle of Wight (Atherfield to Compton is a particularly rich section, often you can find weathered dinosaur bone there, it's the type locality for big dinosaurs Iguanadon Atherfieldensis, Eotyrannus and Neovenator too). Down Surtsey way in Dorset you can find loads of shark teeth. You generally won't find anything of interest in chalk, unless you're really into coccoliths, but anywhere along the coast that isn't Tertiary clay will give you fossils of some sort.



If you're near Portchester the foreshore near the castle is rich in stone tools and some Roman artifacts.
EDITED_BY: Eera (1101167541)

There is a slight possibility that I am not actually right all of the time.


fluffy napalm fairyCarpal \'Tunnel
3,638 posts
Location: Brum / Dorset / Fairy Land


Posted:
Go chill at studland - one of my favouritest beaches - and go Dune Jumping biggrin biggrin biggrin

Geologists do it in the dirt................ spank


FabergGOLD Member
veteran
1,459 posts
Location: Dublin, Ireland


Posted:
ever tried sandboarding? if you can snowboard you can sandboard cool cool

My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely smile



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