Oh my goodness!!! I found a TINY Ichthyosaur vertebra at Lyme Regis!!!! So small and beautiful!!! It is around 195 million years old!!! 
I’ve been to Lyme Regis dozens of times. I love it. It is such a gorgeous little town. They have ammonite lamp posts and stunning views out to sea.
Here’s a close up of those wonderful ammonite lamp posts in Lyme Regis! To have these in a town is a real nod to it’s history.
From Lyme Regis you can see the spectacular Jurassic coast, here are the fossil rich cliffs of Charmouth.
I’ve been to Lyme Regis and Charmouth many times. It’s stunning along the coast and a hot bed for fossils.
There are guidelines for fossil hunting - no bashing the rocks in the cliffs, breaking open rocks that are on the beach. ukfossils.co.uk/2003/02/27/lym…
Normally we head to East Cliff Beach, or Charmouth Beach. They have nice ammonites washed up on the beach and some big rocks have gorgeous calcite ammonites.
Today we went to Monmouth Beach, just by the Cobb. And it was stunning in the afternoon light.
Of course, Lyme Regis is famous for the incredible fossil hunter Mary Anning (Art by B.J. M. Donne in 1847 or 1850)
Anning found lots of ammonites and belemnites, but also big strange things too. She found giant marine lizards - like this lovely illustration she drew of a Plesiosaur in 1823.
Anning also discovered a flying reptile in the cliffs at Lyme Regis (Drawing by T Whittaker)
Mary found dozens of new species of Ichthyosaurs, many of which she sketched.
You can find out more about this incredible woman, one of the first female palaeontologists, here: trowelblazers.com/happy-birthday…
A few years ago (when I had more hair) I paid my respects to Mary Anning, who lies in Lyme Regis.
For years I have been along the beaches here. Sometimes they are too busy because they are so well known. But it is always beautiful.
I took a photo of Monmouth Beach, and then crouched down to look at the stones and sand. And there it was. Just lying there. My first ever Ichthyosaur fossil!!!
