Walks Rock!
Please Note: The walks are no longer available. Thank you to everyone who attended, we hope you had a great time.
Fossil Hunting Walks with Colin Dawes
Saturday 23rd May -
10:00am, 1:00pm
Sunday 24th May - 1:00pm
Adults £7
Children (U16) £3
Family Ticket (2 adults & up to 3 children) £15
Jane Austen Walks
Walk in the Footsteps of Austen around her beloved Lyme. On this tour, walkers will be presented with conclusive information on Jane Austen’s visits to Lyme, the steps from which Louisa Musgrove fell and the inn at which the character stayed in Persuasion
Saturday 23rd May - 10:00am, 12:00am, 3:00pm
Sunday 24th May -10:00am, 12:30pm, 3:00pm
Adults £5
Children (U12) £3
To book your walks please scroll down.
Walks
Colin Dawes Walk - £3
Child Ticket (under 16yrs).
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
Colin Dawes Walk - £7
Adult Ticket.
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
Colin Dawes Walk - £15
Family Ticket
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
Jane Austen Walk - £3
Child Ticket (under 12yrs)
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
Jane Austen Walk - £5
Adult Ticket
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
Talks Rock!
Please Note: The talks are no longer available. Thank you to everyone who attended, we hope you had a great time.
Masonic Hall (1st Floor)
Various talks are occuring during the Fossil Festival, why not come along and learn more about the world around us? To book tickets, please scroll down.
Finding the Masonic Hall
The Masonic Hall is just off Broad Street (the main shopping street). If you go up Broad Street, there is an archway on the left, opposite the Royal Lion Hotel (next to Lyrindas delicatessen). Go through the archway and follow the path for about 40m to the hall. The location is also shown on the Marquees Rock! map.
We also have two free talks occuring at the Lyme Regis Museum, these being:
"Darwin and the Fossil Record"
A gallery talk by Professor Chris Paul
Sat 23rd May at 11am
Summary:
"The idea of evolution has always been controversial. Once the succession of life through time had been broadly established in the first half of the 19th century, it cried out for an evolutionary explanation. However, Darwin thought he found little to support his idea of gradual evolutionary change in the fossil record, which he put down to its incompleteness. Darwin's difficulties derived largely from the immensity of geological time."
The Speaker:
Chris Paul was formerly Professor of Palaeontology at the University of Liverpool (retired 2002). His research interests include fossil echinoderms and molluscs, and the adequacy of the fossil record. He is a trustee of Lyme Regis Museum.
‘The First Jurassic Park’
A short gallery talk by Tom Sharpe, Curator of Palaeontology and Archives at the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff.
Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th at 3pm
Summary:
In 1830, the Lyme geologist Henry De la Beche painted a scene of life in the Jurassic sea, based on fossils found on the Dorset coast. His original watercolour, Duria Antiquior, An Earlier Dorsetshire, on display in the Lyme Regis (Philpot) Museum during the Festival, was the very first of these reconstructions which evolved into today's computer-generated dinosaur animations for film and television.
The Speaker:
Tom Sharpe is Curator of Palaeontology and Archives at the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff. He has a particular interest in the life and work of Henry De la Beche whose diaries and papers are held in the National Museum.
Book Tickets
All Friday Talks - £5
This ticket gives you access to all talks occuring on the Friday.
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
All Saturday Talks - £5
This ticket gives you access to all talks occuring on the Saturday.
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
Friday Talks
6:45pm - Dilly Hobson Talk - £1
Hollis and Liberty Hall: A new beginning
How Hollis rescued Lyme from economic depression, laying the foundations for its revival as a seaside resort in C18.
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
7:20pm - Dr Brian Rosen Talk - £1
Darwin and the coral reefs
Darwin’s first great theory was about the origin of coral reefs. How well does his theory stand up today?
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
7:55pm - Dr John Nudds Talk - £1
Spectacular Fossils from Lower Jurassic Germany
The Lower Jurassic rocks around Holzmaden, Germany, are known for spectacular fossils, which include preserved soft tissue. Many are similar to those at Lyme Regis; others include sharks & crocodiles with preserved skin, pregnant ichthyosaurs with tiny embryos, and huge floating crinoids up to 12m long.
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
8:30pm - Dr Richard Twitchett Talk - £1
Mass Extinctions in the late Permian Period
A talk about the biggest loss of living organisms on the planet so far.
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
9:05pm - Dr Martin Munt Talk - £1
Life near the Bottom (invertebrate fossils from the Lias)
An overview of the major groups of invertebrate fossils found in the Lias of the Dorset Coast, focusing on some of the finest examples in the Natural History Museum’s collections, and the fossils found every day between Monmouth Beach and Eype, including Lyme Regis, Charmouth and Seatown.
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
9:40pm - Prof. Hugh Torrens Talk - £1
Mary Anning and the Evolution of Geology
How the new science of geology evolved during Mary’s short lifetime, and how she contributed to that evolution.
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
Saturday Talks
6:45pm - Prof. Tom Sharp Talk - £1
Sugar, Slaves, Surians and the Survey
What is the connection between a Jamaican sugar plantation, the discovery of ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs in Lyme, and the foundation of the Geological Survey? The link is 19th-century geologist Henry De la Beche of Lyme Regis.
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
7:20pm - Hilary J Blagbrough Talk - £1
The Evolution of Antarctica from Greenhouse to Icehouse
Demonstrating Antarctica’s evolution as determined through studies of fossils found there, with particular emphasis on the Cretaceous to Tertiary environmental changes.
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
7:55pm - Dr Cindy Howells Talk - £1
From Wales to Charmouth – the life of James Frederick Jackson (1894-1966)
Jackson was a dedicated, talented amateur geologist who spent his life collecting across Britain. He spent the last 15 years of his life in Charmouth, and bequeathed his main Dorset fossil collection to the National Museum of Wales.
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
8:30pm - Dr Tim Ewin Talk - £1
Scelidosaurus – the Dorset fossil
An introduction to these unusual armoured dinosaurs, known only from the cliffs around Lyme Regis and Charmouth, and to Britain’s best preserved dinosaur, The Horned Scelidosaur, found at Black Ven by David Sole in December 2000.
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
9:05pm - Richard Edmonds Talk - £1
New Fossils for Old Museums
Introducing some fossils being acquired for Dorset and Devon museums under the Collecting Cultures Heritage Lottery Fund bid, plus discussion of managing fossil interests around Lyme.
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
9:40pm - Dr Simon Boxall Talk - £1
Darwin all at sea
What would Darwin make of evolution since he developed his theory, particularly in the oceans? Is the change real?
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
Performance Rocks!
Please Note: The performances are no longer available to book. Thank you to everyone who attended, we hope you enjoyed the shows.
Marine Theatre Evening Show (Adults £5) U16 FREE
Friday 22nd May 7.30pm
- Barbican Young Poets – Join Jacob Sam-La Rose as he introduces this exciting group of young poets from London. You will be fascinated to hear them describing Darwin and evolution in a modern style.
- B Sharp music project for young people create a performance workshop themed around Evolution Rocks! The piece will include audience participation and visual projection.
- Hanging Hooke – a new play by Siobhan Nicholas (www.takethespace.co.uk) in 2006 a 300yr old manuscript was mysteriously discovered in a cupboard in a country house in Hampshire…it was the long-lost folio of Robert Hooke! ‘Hanging Hooke’ is a tale of intrigue and betrayal
Saturday 23rd May 7.30pm
- Barbican Young Poets – Join Jacob Sam-La Rose as he introduces this exciting group of young poets from London. You will be fascinated to hear them describing Darwin and evolution in a modern style.
- Forkbeard Fantasy (www.forkbeardfantasy.co.uk) Veterans of inventive animation, Forkbeard Fantasy theatre shows combine comedy with wacky special effects, wild mechanical sets, outsize characters and their trademark interactive mix of film, animation and cartoon with live onstage performance.
- Neanderthal (www.simonthornemusic.co.uk) A moving, atmospheric spectacle that’s a concert like no other, with four extraordinary vocalists, stones and haunting video projection. Simon Thorne is one of Wales’s leading composers, an inspiring maverick whose work also has a rare, visionary beauty. Over the past year he has been working with the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff to explore the sound of the world as it might have been for early modern humans..
Book Performances
Friday night performances - £5
Purchase a Friday night performance ticket. Under 16s FREE.
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
Saturday night performances - £5
Purchase a Saturday night performance ticket. Under 16s FREE!
Book on the day, see the Festival Desk for more information.
Merchandise Rocks!
Please note: The merchandise is no longer available for purchase. Thanks to everyone who purchased and supported the Fossil Festival.
Click the items picture for a closer look.
Festival Brochure
£2.00
A1 Darwin Poster
An A1 sized poster of Darwin.
£7.50
Darwin T-Shirt
Available in four sizes, XL, L, M and S. Please specify required size when purchasing.
£9.99
Lyme Regis T Shirt
£9.99
Childrens T-Shirts
£7.99
Verisaurus Postcard
40p
Seasaurus Postcard
40p
