Friday 24 October 2008

The Purbecks - Tailpiece

Kimmeridge Bay

The rocks here were once the floor of a deep, tropical sea rich in pre-historic life. They formed in the Jurassic period, 155 million years ago.

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You don't have to look to hard to find fossils in the rocks. This photo was used to claim an Earthcache (for geocaching.com).

The fossil is an ammonite.

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Lunchtime on Studland Beach.

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In between Studland beach and Ferry Road there is the Little Sea, a fresh-water lake amongst the dunes which was cut off from the sea by the development of the dunes. The lake is a haven for birds and other wildlife.

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This is a quarr (quarr is correct) where the Purbeck Stone was quarried. These shafts were sunk into the ground and a donkey was used to pull up the trucks. Looking at an Ordnance map of this area there are the remains of many of these quarrs.

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The Great Globe at Durlston is the largest sculpture created by George Burt at what is now Durlston Country Park. It is three metres in diameter and weighs about 40 tonnes and is made from local Portland Limestone.

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We ended our trip away a day earlier because of the poor weather forecast. Needless to say they were wrong and the Friday was warm and sunny.

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