Jurassic perks for Dorset's dinosaur hunters (From Thisisdorset)

Jurassic perks for Dorset's dinosaur hunters

10:20am Wednesday 14th January 2009

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DORSET’S Jurassic coastline has been selected as a top spot for a British break with a difference.

The latest issue of the BBC’s Countryfile magazine says the World Heritage Site is a rich hunting ground for fossil hunters.

The magazine features fossil hunting in Dorset alongside other unusual British breaks such as gypsy caravanning in Wiltshire, cheese-making in Somerset and dry stone walling in the Cotswolds.

Holidaymakers who wish to try fossil hunting are advised to visit Charmouth or Lyme Regis and join a guided walk. Sam Rose, team leader of the Jurassic Coast Team, said the magazine’s recommendation was a good way of attracting tourists to the area out of season.

“Fossil hunting is a year round activity which is particularly good in the winter,” said Mr Rose.

“I would recommend going to Charmouth Heritage Centre and speaking to the staff there.

“We’re saying to people ‘come down in winter’ because we have attractions like Monkey World, Durlston Country Park and so many good bed and breakfasts and local produce.”

Professor Denys Brunsden, a trustee of the Jurassic Coast Trust, is keen to see more holidaymakers visiting the area for fossil hunting – as long as they treat it with respect.

Mr Brunsden, of Eype, was instrumental in helping the coastline earn World Heritage Site status in 2001 He said: “We need to educate people to have love and respect for the place. It’s not about the area being a secret destination and creating an extra tourist market, we want people to bring their children and educate them.

“I spoke to a surgeon in Edinburgh who came here as a child and found an ammonite on Charmouth beach.

“That was the evolution of life over a 200-million-year period and that piece of ammonite inspired him to be a doctor.

“This is a piece of coast that respects the world’s history as a whole.”

Mr Rose says people who wish to try fossil hunting should keep their eyes close to the ground.

“We don’t want people digging up the cliff – if people walk along the beach and keep their eyes down they can come across ammonites which are millions of years old.”

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