Wight Coast Fossils

02/10/2024

Spot of fossiling at Compton today, managing to miss the rain too!

25/09/2024

UPDATE 2- BOOKING FORMS HAVE STOPPED WORKING AGAIN 😭😭

We have now gone over to direct emails for the time being whilst we sort the issue with our website. If you have filled in a booking form within the last 2 days, please email us directly instead 😊 thankyou!!

UPDATE-- BOOKING FORMS ARE FIXED.
After alot of googling, downloading plugins and messing with settings, I have managed to get our booking forms working again.

But please do contact us directly if we haven't got back to you within 2 days! We don't know that the forms aren't working if no one tells us 😂

_________________________

I would like to apologise for anyone who has been trying to book a fossil walk with us in the last month.

We have just noticed our contact forms on the website have not been working properly, with only a handful of requests actually reaching us!
I am now going through the website logs and contacting everyone who didn't make it through to us.

For now, we have removed the contact forms on the website and ask everyone to contact us directly at [email protected]

Image below of how I'm feeling looking at the website forms right now 😩😩

25/09/2024

Looking for Christmas gift ideas?

Our shop is now stocked with Megan's silver jewelry for a limited period! This includes a variety of Isle of Wight necklaces and earrings!

We also have gift vouchers, our ammonite book and car stickers too!

Follow the link below to check out what's on offer!
www.wightcoastfossils.co.uk/shop

24/09/2024

23/09/2024

Looking for a fossil walk this week?

We have a National Trust Isle of Wight walk running at Compton Bay this Saturday (28th September), 2-3pm!

To book your space, head over to our website and fill in the booking form- www.wightcoastfossils.co.uk/national-trust-fossil-walks

We are currently experiencing random technical issues with the booking forms, if you do not hear back from us with a day or so, please email us directly at [email protected]

16/09/2024

We are very saddened to hear that Robin Lang passed away, and our thoughts to go his family, friends and IOW National Trust staff.

Robin was a great enthusiast for all things fossil, collecting dinosaur bones on the mainland before moving to the island.

He was always incredibly helpful to grant permissions to save fossils from the tides, and interested in what was being found. As well as having an amazing skill to impart his knowledge of our geological heritage to all ages.

He will be greatly missed by everyone here.

In Memory of Robin Lang. ❣️

As many will know, our Countryside Manager, Robin Lang, recently passed away. It is with great sadness that we acknowledge and honour this news.

Robin was a much-loved and cherished member of our team and the local community, dedicating his career to preserving and caring for the Island’s beautiful countryside. Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences go out to his family during this difficult time.

We kindly ask for your patience as our team, deeply affected by this loss, continues their work across our sites. Thank you for your understanding and support.

Robin’s funeral will be held on Tuesday 24th September at 12pm at the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Mottistone, followed by a gathering at Mottistone Manor. A Book of Remembrance is available at the church for those wishing to share their tributes.

In honour of Robin's passion for helping those in need, donations to UNICEF can be made on the day or directly through Geoff Leather Funeral Directors.

15/09/2024

We've been on the hunt for dinosaur footprints this week!

Our most famous footprints on the island are the Hanover Point footcasts, which create a huge boulder field along the beach, and are seen by thousands of people every year!
However, if you know where to look on a low tide, you may stumble across the infilled impressions within the foreshore clays!
If recently exposed, these can be very obvious, but they do erode quickly, becoming more obscure, eventually disappearing all together over time. Due to their brief time exposed, it's always a pleasure to see them, as well as photograph them (with a scale), to keep a record of them all before they're lost to the sea.

Here's some of our highlights from our hunt yesterday!

14/09/2024

New rockpool safari dates! 🦀🦑🌱 Following the awesome success of August’s safaris at Compton Bay we’re running more rockpool safaris next week from 18th - 21st September!

Lead by island marine biologists Theo Vickers and Laura McConnell we’ll be focusing on the rocky shores of Bembridge Ledges, regarded as the best rockpool site on the island! The ledges are teeming with some amazing marine wildlife from red-speckled anemones and conger eels to nudibranchs and stalked jellyfish!

As the tides get later the safaris will then switch back Compton Bay to see if we can boost the 54 marine species we recorded there in August!

Dates:

18th September | Bembridge | 16:45 - 18:15

19th September | Bembridge | 17:30 - 19:00

20th September | Compton Bay | 17:30 - 19:00

21st September | Compton Bay | 17:45 - 19:15

To book your space please contact us at [email protected] or visit www.wightcoastfossils.co.uk!

07/09/2024

Come find us at the Southampton fossil show today!
Theo has a selection of north coast fossils to show off, plus we have all our sales, including our new keyrings, car stickers and ammonite book!

We're here until 4pm 😊😊

02/09/2024

We will be at the Hampshire Mineral and Fossil show on Saturday (7th)!

Come along, check out everyone's stands and say hi!

25/08/2024

It's that time of year again!

This year we've been nominated for two awards in the Red Funnel Awards 2024 - Best Activity Provider and Isle of Woof!

We work very hard all year round to provide fossil walks to all our lovely customers and attend outreach events to educate as many people as possible about the amazing prehistory of our island! We strive to make our tours accessible for all, and ensure your four-legged friends (cats and dogs this year!) can join us all year round at every locality!

Voting closes on the 31st August, and remember, it's one vote per device/log-in! So get out your laptops, phones, and tablets, and vote for us on all devices!

Thank you from all of us here at Wight Coast Fossils!!

https://www.redfunnel.co.uk/isle-of-wight-guide/isle-of-wight-awards/vote-best-activity-provider
https://www.redfunnel.co.uk/isle-of-wight-guide/isle-of-wight-awards/vote-isle-woof

24/08/2024

The rough weather certainly paid off on our walks on Friday, the sun came out and Compton Bay was not only absolutely beautiful but very fossiliferous!

We had lots of brilliant fossils found by our budding fossil collectors!

Here's a couple of highlights - a very sizable irregular echinoid and a huge chunk of dinosaur vertebra!

23/08/2024

What a summer it's been and it's definitely gone too fast!

Although the weather has turned, we're still heading out to find some great fossils! And the rough seas have definitely replenished the beaches for the last week of the summer holidays!

For the last week of the summer holidays, we have the following public walks:

Monday, 26th August, 10.00 - 12.00
Wednesday, 28th August, 10.00 - 12.00
Friday, 30th August, 12.30 - 14.30, 15.30 - 17.30

National Trust walks:

Tuesday, 27th August, 10.00 - 11.00, 12.00 - 13.00, 14.00 - 15.00
Thursday, 29th August, 11.00 - 12.00, 13.00 - 14.00, 15.00 - 16.00

And plenty of private walk availability!

For prices and more information, as well as booking your space on one of our walks to discover the island's prehistoric past please fill in the booking form on our website- https://wightcoastfossils.co.uk/book-now/

22/08/2024

NOTICE: Due to popular demand and today’s high winds, we will now be running an extra rockpool safari tomorrow (Friday 23/08/24) at Compton Bay from 18:00 - 19:45!

The weather tomorrow evening is set to be slightly better than today, and with such a succesful week and so much demand we want to try and cater for everyone!

(Max. Attendance: 30 People)

Pricing:

Adult (18-60 yrs old) - £10

Senior (60+ yrs old) - £7.50

Child (5-17 yrs old) - £5

Child (0-4 yrs old) - FREE

Family Ticket (2x adults, 1x children) - £20

Family Ticket (2x adults, 2x children) - £25

Family Ticket (2x adults, 3x children) - £30

Grandparent Ticket (2x seniors, 2x children) - £20

To book a space please contact [email protected]! Or head online and use the booking forms at:
www.wightcoastfossils.co.uk/rock-pool-safaris or www.theovickersmarinewildlife.co.uk/rockpoolsafaris

19/08/2024

You'll definitely know where to find us in the Compton Bay carpark for our fossil walks!

A massive thankyou to the National Trust Isle of Wight for designing and installing this sign for us! 😊😊😊

We look forward to meeting everyone for the last few weeks of the summer holidays, and hopefully our fossil finding luck will continue!

19/08/2024

Despite the relatively calm, the beaches are still full of fossils waiting to be found!

Here's some of the summer highlights so far, including dinosaur bones, echinoids, worked flints and some beautiful fossil shells!

To find your piece of Isle of Wight prehistory this summer, book onto one of our fossil walks by following this link- www.wightcoastfossils.co.uk/book-now !

17/08/2024

A bit like the rising tides our Isle of Wight rockpool safaris have filled up quickly, with our safari on Monday now fully booked and limited spaces available for Tuesday!

Led by island-based marine biologists and underwater photographers Theo Vickers and Laura McConnell these experiences will be a great way to discover the island’s wild seas and coastline 🦑🦀🌱

To book your spaces please contact us at [email protected]! Or visit https://theovickersmarinewildlife.co.uk/rockpoolsafaris/

09/08/2024

A brilliant spot by one of our young budding fossil hunters this week!
What seemed to just be a large rock on the foreshore is a huge section of a fossilised tree!
This tree is around ~127 million years old, once growing in forests inhabited by dinosaurs. It has now been washed up on the beach, and we've walked past it none the wiser until this week!

Small sections are devoid of seaweed, allowing you to see the grain of the wood and the classic black sections we see on smaller pieces.

07/08/2024

For the last week or so, our guide Joe has been part of a very exciting major excavation at Hills Quarry Products as part of the 2024 Mammoth dig, organized by Nev and Sally Hollingworth!

Over the last month, they've made some amazing finds, including lots of mammoth bones and worked flints. We thought we'd share this short video of Joe discussing his best find- a perfect flint axehead!

05/08/2024

Despite appearing like a random chunk of rock at first glance, upon closer inspection we saw this is part of a dinosaur footcast! An isolated toe, likely broken off in a cliff fall. But had something very special preserved on its sides!

Still preserved are the marks on the sides where the scales and claw on the dinosaur's foot scraped through the mud, before the footprint was infilled with sand. This indicates it hasn't been on the beach for very long, as these details are quickly eroded away by the waves.

We rarely see such details preserved in the footcasts at Hanover Point, so this isolated toe is very special!

01/08/2024

Exciting news 🌱🦀🦈 New for August 2024 we’ll be running a series of 4 guided rockpool safaris at Compton Bay lead by island-based marine biologists and underwater photographers Theo Vickers and Laura McConnell!

Head into the intertidal zone and discover a rich world of marine life from anemones, velvet crabs and blennies to sea slugs, cormorants and grey seals! Theo and Laura will guide you through Compton Bay’s rocky shores, giving you the opportunity to explore, discover and get hands on with the diversity oflife that lives on our island’s rugged coastline, and identifying your rockpool finds! A perfect way for all ages and levels of interests to learn more about the wild seas on our doorstep!

All the species and sightings we record on our safaris will be submitted to the island’s local biological records, contributing and building valuable data on the island’s marine biodiversity!

Location: Compton Bay

When:

19th August - 15:30 - 17:15

20th August - 16:15 - 18:00

21st August - 17:00 - 18:45

22nd August - 17:30 - 19:00

(Max. Attendance: 30 People)

Pricing:

Adult (18-60 yrs old) – £10

Senior (60+ yrs old) – £7.50

Child (5-17 yrs old) – £5

Child (0-4 yrs old) – FREE

Family Ticket (2x adults, 1x children) – £20

Family Ticket (2x adults, 2x children) – £25

Family Ticket (2x adults, 3x children) – £30

Grandparent Ticket (2x seniors, 2x children) – £20

To book your space on an Isle of Wight rockpool safari please contact us at [email protected]! Or head online and use the booking forms at: www.wightcoastfossils.co.uk/rock-pool-safaris or www.theovickersmarinewildlife.co.uk/rockpoolsafaris

National Trust Isle of Wight!

29/07/2024

We're definitely enjoying this much needed sunshine, could have almost been in the Mediterranean today at Compton!

Some cracking finds today too! Including this section of Vectis Formation gutter cast packed full of fish bones, with a lovely little fish jaw with several big pointed teeth!

27/07/2024

The summer holidays are now definitely in full swing and our team is very busy with fossil walks!

We've had some great finds already, including this amazing pycnodont fish tooth palette! Possibly from a fish called Coelodus.

Pycnodont fishes range from the Jurassic through to the Eocene, and were a incredibly diverse and successful group of fishes.
They have a upper and lower jaw consisting of rounded/ oval teeth used to crush shells, and probably other hard crustaceans.

These complete palettes are pretty rare, so it's discovery by one of our budding fossil hunters made our morning!

21/07/2024

Our TeeMill Shop has been updated!

A big shout out to Chloe for suggesting our car sticker designs be made into T-shirts! They're now available in Men's, Women's, and Children's tees!

We have also updated our products, so the women's tee is now available in sizes 8 - 24! And men's are available in sizes XS to 5XL in most designs (can be restricted to certain colours).

We all love TeeMill at Wight Coast Fossils, they produce long-lasting, high-quality products, made using natural materials and renewable energy, and shipped in plastic-free packaging too!
This summer you will see all our guides sporting our 'Ancient Island' design! We wear them almost every single day, especially during school holidays, and they really stand up to the test!

To get your Wight Coast Fossils Tshirt, visit our TeeMill shop - https://wight-coast-fossils.teemill.com/

18/07/2024

With the summer holidays fast approaching our fossil walks are filling up fast!

We have public and National Trust walks running Monday to Friday every week at Compton Bay, and private tours running daily!

Here are the dates and times for the 2-hour public walks:

Monday, 29th July, 10.00 - 12.00
Wednesday, 31st July, 10.30 - 12.30, 13.30 - 15.30
Friday, 2nd August, 14.30 - 16.30

Monday, 5th August, 15.00 - 17.00
Wednesday, 7th August, 16.30 - 18.30

Monday, 12th August, 10.00 - 12.00
Wednesday, 14th August, 9.30 - 11.30, 12.30 - 14.30
Friday, 16th August, 11.00 - 13.00

Monday, 19th August, 14.00 - 16.00
Wednesday, 21st August, 15.00 - 17.00
Friday, 23rd August, 16.30 - 18.30

Monday, 26th August, 10.00 - 12.00
Wednesday, 28th August, 10.00 - 12.00, 13.00 - 15.00
Friday, 30th August, 12.30 - 14.30, 15.30 - 17.30

The Prices for the public walks are below:

Adults (18-60 yrs old) £9.50
Senior (60+ yrs old) £7.50
Child (5-17 yrs old) £7
Child (0-4 yrs old) FREE
Family ticket (2x adults, 1x child) £22
Family ticket (2x adults, 2x child) £25
Family ticket (2x adults, 3x child) £28
Grandparent ticket (2x seniors, 2x child) £20

Our National Trust tours:
Tuesday, 30th July, 10.00 - 11.00, 12.00 - 13.00, 14.00 - 15.00

Thursday, 1st August, 12.30 - 13.30, 14.30 - 15.30, 16.30 - 17.30
Tuesday, 6th August, 16.00 - 17.00, 17.30 - 18.30

Tuesday, 13th August, 9.00 - 10.00, 11.00 - 12.00, 13.00 - 14.00
Thursday, 15th August, 9.00 - 10.00, 11.00 - 12.00, 13.00 - 14.00

Tuesday, 20th August, 14.30 - 15.30, 16.30 - 17.30
Thursday, 22nd August, 15.30 - 16.30, 17.30 - 18.30

Tuesday, 27th August, 10.00 - 11.00, 12.00 - 13.00, 14.00 - 15.00
Thursday, 29th August, 11.00 - 12.00, 13.00 - 14.00, 15.00 - 16.00

Prices for the National Trust walks:

Adults (18-60 yrs old) £5
Child (5-17 yrs old) £3

To book your trip back into the island's prehistory or to find out more, head over to our website - https://wightcoastfossils.co.uk/