As we enjoyed the bank holiday weekend just gone, we were reminded of the previous one where our trainees on the Identification Trainers for the Future project travelled to the ‘Jurassic Coast’ to help out at the annual Lyme Regis Fossil Festival. One of our trainees Anthony Roach has been going to the festival since 2009 and gives us an insight here into how things have changed over the years…
The reaction of friends who aren’t natural history geeks is often brilliant! Looking at me rather quizzically they’ve said, ‘So. You’re going to a Fossil Festival?!’ ‘Yes,’ I reply. Some respond with, ‘cooool…so what do you do exactly? Talk about rocks and fossils?’ ‘Do you go fossil hunting?’ ‘Do you show people dinosaurs?’ Yes, yes, and well, sometimes we have bits of them! ‘And you’re doing this for 3 days?’ Yes and it is brilliant. With wry smiles they usually say ‘right…cool…interesting…’
The truth is, despite my friend’s reaction, it is a lot more than just a few rocks, fossils and bits of dinosaurs! The Fossil Festival celebrates the unique scientific discoveries that can be read in the rocks at Lyme Regis and how they’ve shaped our understanding of geological time. The festival also takes inspiration from the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site to inspire future generations of scientists, geologists, naturalists and artists.
My first experience of the Fossil Festival was in 2009, as a volunteer for the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter, and going to deliver geologically themed outreach activities due to my passion for geology. Every year the festival has a theme. In 2009 it was the centenary of Charles Darwin, so it was rather aptly named ‘Evolution Rocks’. I remembered thinking that this was clearly a big deal! There were massive orange flags with ammonites on them for a start. The marquees were constantly filled with the public and the diversity of rocks and fossils is matched by the organisations present. Scientists from the Museum, Oxford University Museums and National Museums Wales were present, along with scientific institutes, universities, NGOs, geologically themed clubs and societies and the Jurassic Coast team, along with many more.
It was then that I realised that this was probably the coolest festival I’d ever been to. As a visitor you could go to the Plymouth University stand and literally walk like a dinosaur to see if you are as fast as a Velociraptor or T. rex. You could come face to face with amazing marine life such as giant isopods in resin collected from Antarctic waters by the British Antarctic Survey, study metiorites, dinosaur bones or excavate prehistoric shark teeth with the Museum… or even help create a giant papier mache replica fossil! If that wasn’t enough, there are often engaging talks from scientists, historical tours of Lyme, fossil walks and film and drama performances.
I already adored the Museum by this point, so I remember going into the marquee, walking up to curator Tim Ewin and asking him ‘How can I get a job at the Museum?’ He kindly explained how I might go about doing this. Little did I know that just over a year later I would actually be working at the festival itself for the Museum as a part of the Science Educator team. Weirdly, I also found a fossil bivalve mollusc during a walk later on in the year at Charmouth beach which was so unusual it became part of the Museum’s palaeontology collection. One way or another, because of my passion for geology and engaging with the public I have returned to Lyme Regis every year since and this year it celebrated its 10th birthday in fantastic style!
This year’s theme was ‘Mapping the Earth’ to celebrate the amazing contribution made by William Smith to our understanding of geology. A canal builder and surveyor, William Smith had no formal education. He is, however, regarded as the father of modern geology and produced an astoundingly accurate geological map of the British Isles for the first time in 1815 without the aid of any modern technology, a feat made all the more remarkable by the fact that he travelled around by horse and carriage.
Six years on from my first visit, and returning now as a trainee with the Identification Trainers for the Future project, I accompanied the other trainees and colleagues from the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity to raise the profile of our innovative citizen science projects to the public.
Our newest project, Orchid Observers, has recieved a lot of interest since going live in April and particularly now that so many orchid species are coming into flower. Fellow trainee Mike Waller (a self-confessed orchidite!), Kath Castillo (orchid expert and project manager for the Orchid Observers project) and Lucy Robinson (Citizen Science Project Manager for the AMC), have inspired visitors to go out and look for 29 of the 52 species of orchids that can be found in the UK. By encouraging the public to record their sightings, we hope to understand how orchids are adapting to climate change and how this is affecting flowering times.
(L-R: Mike Waller, ID Trainee; Jade Cawthray, Citizen Science Team; Anthony Roach and Chloe Rose, ID Trainees)
As the beach was so close to the marquee at Lyme Regis I spent some time walking the strand line and rock pools for interesting seaweeds to help explain our other project, the Big Seaweed Search, to visitors. I was delighted to find over 15 different species and learn of some new ones such as banded pincerweed (Ceramium spp.) and sea beech (Delesseria sanguinea).
Additionally, Chloe, Katy and me – along with Chris Raper, expert entomologist within the AMC – were explaining the huge varieties of flying insects that have mimicked bees to avoid predation and ensure their survival. Clear wing moths, flies and hoverflies all do this and some are so convincing that a lot of the public are convinced they are looking at bumblebees!
The general atmosphere of the festival was amazing with lots of people, both young and old, interested in our projects and keen to take part. A highlight for the team also included a visit to Stone Barrow Hill near Golden Cap to view green-winged orchids on the coastal cliffs.
In the evening I was very inspired by an amazing comedic play by Tangram Theatre about the life and challenging times of Charles Darwin, proving that science really can inspire the visiual arts. The festival continues to grow in scale and imagination every year and I will continue to be a part of something that inspires and enthuses all people and proves that science is for everyone!
Thanks Anthony! If you want to visit the next Lyme Regis Fossil Festival in 2016, keep your May Day bank holiday free for a trip to Dorset.