After 20 minutes scouring Charmouth Beach, eyes flitting from side to side, I spot it: the unmistakable curve of ribbed shell half-embedded in a lump of mudstone - an ammonite. Gingerly, I rock the ancient fossil to and fro, easing it free from its petrified prison of who knows how many million years. Turning it over, marvelling at this miraculous object, I realise that I am the first person ever to hold it in my hand.
The Mary Anning Rocks sculpture celebrates Lyme Regis´s pioneering palaeontologist.
It's an auspicious start to my journey along the Jurassic Coast. This 95-mile stretch of shore mostly in Dorset, but nudging just into east Devon - is blessed with awe-inspiring geological formations and fossil deposits that have garnered it recognition as England's only natural UNESCO World Heritage Site. Snaking east from Orcombe Point near Exmouth to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage, it's studded with monumental rock arches, seemingly endless shingle beaches and fossil beds from which treasures were prised that altered our understanding of prehistory.
This extraordinary landscape was formed over the Mesozoic era, which began 250 million years ago and encompassed the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Layers of sediment deposited during periods of changing environmental conditions became tilted and crumpled by tectonic activity sparked by the breaking apart of the supercontinent Pangaea, and the subsequent formation of the continents as we know them now. Over the past few hundred thousand years, erosion has sculpted the dynamic coastline we see today.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 2024-Ausgabe von BBC Countryfile Magazine.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der September 2024-Ausgabe von BBC Countryfile Magazine.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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Guilt-Free Meat? - Should the world stop eating meat to tackle the climate crisis? Chris Baraniuk meets an experimental farmer who says we don't all have to become vegetarians
Should the world stop eating meat to tackle the climate crisis? Chris Baraniuk meets an experimental farmer who says we don't all have to become vegetarians. Livestock farming around the world is facing scrutiny because of its greenhouse gas emissions. Globally, the sector contributes somewhere between 11.1% and 19.6% of total emissions. Meat production is roughly twice as bad as the production of plant-based food, according to some analyses. And beef is the worst of all. Study after study has suggested that, in order to curtail the devastating effects of climate change, we ought to shift to a diet containing less meat - or even go vegetarian or vegan.
Discover Cider Country - Explore mellow golden countryside, pedalling between medieval villages, historic inns and fruitful orchards, on a delightful Herefordshire Cider Circuit adventure with Julie Brominicks
Explore mellow golden countryside, pedalling between medieval villages, historic inns and fruitful orchards, on a delightful Herefordshire Cider Circuit adventure with Julie Brominicks. I'm cycling Porter's Perfection, one of three cider circuits developed for Visit Herefordshire over the past few years. Each showcases a section of this bucolic county's loveliest villages, pubs, orchards and cidermakers via lanes suited to bicycles - e-bikes for hill-averse cyclists like me. The idea is to allow you to appreciate the sights, sounds and smells of cider country while traversing roads never meant for modern cars. If you have dodgy knees, or are keen to indulge in the local adult apple juice as you go (remember, it's illegal to cycle while under the influence), Visit Herefordshire also promotes cider bus routes.
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For farmers out in their fields in all seasons, worried about the future as dramatic levels of rainfall blamed on climate change damage their crops, inflation and uncertainty push up their costs and what they see as unfair imports threaten their livelihoods, here's a spot of unexpectedly good news: the rest of us think you are doing a good job.
Pumpkin patches
Find the perfect jack-o'-lantern for Halloween at a pick-your-own pumpkin patch. Some are simple affairs in tranquil countryside; others offer activities ranging from ghost trains to spooky mazes.
