Dorset has always been a world-class destination for people who love geomorphology the land
the people who like natural history the Dorset coast path is walked by thousands of people
But now there will be a little gem there and that's going to attract people and they're
going to go away with a really wonderful memory not only have they had a walk in
the most beautiful countryside but they've actually seen a fossil collection which is
scientifically important but also full of very very beautiful objects a hundred
and fifty million years old and that's going to leave some very very special
memories I think that this is going to be a real jewel on Dorset's coast.
I would say that Steve's collection probably in this country is one of
the most important fossil collections that exists
Steve's got some really fabulous specimens that outshine just about
everything else present even in the Natural History Museum where I work
It's the same as when I was five when I find my first fossil is it that sense of wonderment that
you never lose I mean as adults we get blase about different sort of things but to actually
find something that's been laid there for 150 million years and you're the first person to
set your eyes on it and find it that thrill never goes away there is something very special about
Steve's approach to collecting the fossils he's not finding fossils that are washed out
by the sea and have been rolled around in the waves what Steve's doing is he's walking along
the wave cut platform and he's finding the fossils when the sea is just revealing them
and he's collecting them before the sea and the storms can do any damage so instead of picking
up these rolled and worn bits and pieces Steve is getting out absolutely perfect specimen's.
The red secret I think is the learning aspect of it we want schools we want universities we
want young professionals particularly in the oil industry who are very interested
all to come this is going to hopefully draw people to Kimmeridge draw people to
Dorset and make people more aware of the very very special fossil heritage that Dorset has.
I think Steve brings a new dimension to it because we have here a living
collector who can show people actually in the museum or on the web how he does
it how he finds them how he brings them back the stories behind what he has done
Now Kimmeridge fossils from Dorset stay in Dorset and they're a part
of Dorset's natural geological heritage and available for everybody to appreciate
scientists and the public. I've spent 35 years studying these sweet rocks and
that's just scratching the surface what's lying just under your feet here now you can
spend a thousand lifetimes we'll never get a full picture of what was going on