I remember seeing news of the discovery of the sea monster and, being a fan of nature programmes, I have watched David Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster – BBC iPlayer a couple of times. So, visiting the Etches Collection in Kimmeridge was added to the travel plan to do list. It has taken us some time to find a chance to visit, but it was worth the wait.
We parked at the Quarry car park, on the hill above Kimmeridge and the museum, and being blessed with a sunny day, we walked down the hill to the village. The walk took us straight through green fields and a church yard, with a very quaint little church, and out onto the village street. It appeared to be the only street in the village. We found the museum and the staff were lovely from the minute we arrived. They offered to hold our rucksacks behind the counter, and checked we knew where we were going. To be fair, we couldn’t really get lost. The Etches Collection is a small museum, but definitely worth taking the time to visit.
The story of the Sea Monster, or pliosaur skull, is fascinating. There had been a recent cliff fall and Philip Jacobs was walking along the beach when he spotted a rock. Luckily he knew what he was seeing – the tip of the skull from a sea going dinosaur. He hid it, and went to get the help of Steve Etches, who confirmed his find. They then set about finding out where it had come from, and the rest of the skull was found to still be in the cliff. They were able to raise the money, and get specialist support and in a mission worthy of James Bond, they removed the rest of the skull from the cliff. (Watch the programme – I cannot do justice to how hard this excavation was).
The skull was cleaned, preserved and then it needed a home – luckily it is now housed on the coast where it was found, and it is an incredible thing to see. Pictures just do not do it justice, it is so big and the teeth are frighteningly large. The pliosaur lived in the seas around 150 million years ago. It would have been around 12 meters in length – 1 ½ London buses! Apparently it was big enough and strong enough to beat a T-Rex in a fight – the sort of fact my 10 year old self would have loved.
The museum contained so many other fossils, and was set out so you can get close to all of them. The information is well presented and QR codes bring up videos for more fascinating information. In a downstairs room, there is educational information, a small exhibit about pollution in the sea and bones that you can touch. I could not resist touching the bones, and I am sure a child would be in their element. You can also see Steve’s workshop from the museum and, if you are lucky, you can watch Steve in there, working on his collected fossils and bones.
I also liked the shop. It contained the usual T-shirts, books and toys, but there were also fossils for sale, and the prices were not too horrible. We purchased an Ammonite Chondoceras from North Dorset and some 40 million year old Gastropod shells for our travel wall; a plan for when we eventually live in a house again. The Ammonite was found by a friend of the museum, who donates them for the museum to sell on. It was lovely to get a fossil which was from Dorset, and the shells from our home county of Hampshire.
Having rescued the skull from the cliffside, the museum is currently trying to raise money to get the remaining body of the Sea Monster out of the cliff face. We were happy to contribute and really hope to be able to return to the museum and see the whole skeleton in the future. Imagine the size – they would need to build a bigger museum to house it!
From the museum, we walked down to Kimmeridge Bay. There is no sand, but it is a little bay, with a pebble beach and rocks from the cliff falls. There are the remains of fossils to be seen on the rocks, and all the different colours in the strata of the cliffs. We sat having a picnic in the sun, and the sound of water and small stones sliding down the cliffs behind us was a bit disconcerting. We tried not to think about cliff falls, and the scene when we visited West Bay, further up the coast.
We went in for a dip, the bay is safe for swimming and snorkelling. I didn’t swim though. I was very happy to be in the water, all the way in, (does it even count if you don’t get wet shoulders?), but I do not like the feel of seaweed around my legs, so actually swimming was too far out of my comfort zone.
I love wild swimming, or just swimming outside. However, I am not a brave swimmer, so I prefer to be able to see to the bottom or, at least, feel sand or pebbles under my feet, and nothing else. Kimmeridge Bay has rocks under the water and seaweed growing on the bottom, as well as floating seaweed. Underfoot it changes from flat to stony, from hard to soft and there are sudden drops. Not big drops, but enough to unnerve me. I settled for walking out and enjoying the sea and the sun while staying on my feet. When I do swim, I walk out to about chest height, then swim parallel to the shore, or back in, so I know I am never out of my depth.
The walk back up to the car park, in the sun, was lovely, and we headed back to Dorchester for the night. The next morning we met friends at East Fleet Farm Campsite in Dorset for the weekend. We are not fans of campsites, but they serve a purpose, and East Fleet is really nice. We only use sites when we need to top up our leisure battery power, top up our water, or do some washing. Oh, and when I need to dye my hair, obviously. We also use them when we meet up with friends or family. This was our second trip to East Fleet Farm, which is close to Weymouth. We met Kate and Karina there, with their gorgeous dogs, Daisy and Jack. For the second year running, the site arranged for our vans to be next to each other. The showers and toilets are lovely and clean, and the service points for vans are spread all over the site, so there is never far to go. There is a great dog walking field, and access to the South West Coast Path. The restaurant and bar are pricey, but they had an extensive gluten free menu, always a bonus. There is also a barn for evening entertainment and a large children’s play area, so I would imagine it is a great place for families. There were certainly plenty of children around.
Apologies if you have a Dryrobe – but Kate introduced me to the Dryrobe W****** Facebook page, when we saw a group of at least 10 people, children included, all wearing Dryrobes. In fairness, they were near the sea – but from the campsite there are just mudflats out to Chesil Beach, and it is not safe to swim. You have to walk a long way to actually be able to get in the sea. And it was evening, and they were in the bar – so why did they need dry robes? Maybe I’m just jealous – there are times when I would love a Dryrobe, but can’t afford one. I do know my friends would never let me wear it to the pub though, unless I still had a wet swimsuit underneath it. 😀
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