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The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022
Down to earth
BEACHCOMBING with JO BELASCO BA Hons History of Architecture and Design
Arriving at Charmouth with Zelda our dog, I remembered why I only come here in the winter: No dogs allowed on one side and only dogs on leads on the other in the summer! Nevertheless, it was exciting as I spotted a focused-looking man with a serious-looking hammer and a Panama hat. He looked like he knew exactly where the best fossils were lurking and so we gave chase. When the crowds thinned I began feeling rather conspicuous in my pursuit. What was I doing chasing a strange man? We would be in Seatown soon and he kept looking round, his face more of a grimace than a smile. I had to admit defeat and we turned tail, slowly retracing our steps, this time at such a pace that I managed to get a bit of socialising in. As I suspected, beachcombers were mainly looking for sea-glass, fossils, and driftwood at Charmouth. One couple with some drooling dogs said they were searching for cuttlefish bone for the hounds’ snacks but I would only put that on the compost heap. I decided to swing round to Lyme to see the new statue of the famous fossil hunter Mary Anning. Driving –
HISTORIC: The statue of Mary Anning at Lyme Regis and, right, a fossil I discovered, fool’s gold and, bottom, a dragon’s egg (slag glass)
Take your pick of the fossils dotted along the exotic East not walking along the beach as the tide was too high. The statue is just in front of the Marine Theatre on the seafront. Created by Denise Dutton, it is a joy to see. Anning carries the tell-tale geological hammer or ‘rock pick’, her pockets brim with tiny fossils and her faithful dog runs at her heels. As the famous East Beach
is very near the statue I couldn’t resist! In less than half an hour I had found a nice piece of fool’s gold (pyrite), a dragon’s egg or bonfire glass (slag glass) and an ammonite fossil. The fool’s gold looks like a rock which someone has liberally sprinkled golden glitter on. One friendly lady showed me the many fossils she
had found and pointed back down the beach to Charmouth, saying there was a tour guide there who had showed her what to look for. I considered going to try to track him down but on second thoughts following one man with a ‘gurt’ hammer down a lonely beach was a bit odd but two in one day was maybe a bit much even for me!
