Jurassic Coast; the greatest story on Earth – Richard Edmonds
The Dorset and Devon coast may display the most complete sequence of rocks recording the Mesozoic or middle era of life on Earth, but you cannot describe the Earth through that time based on this place alone. Therefore, the talk explores our coast in a global context looking at plate tectonics as the driver for climate change, extinction and evolution in order to make sense of the story contained within our coast.
Richard Edmonds ‘got’ geology during a stroll along Charmouth Beach in 1971 where he picked up a little fool’s gold ammonite by chance and the rest, as they say, is history. Geology degree at the University of Hull, a short stint on the north sea oil rigs, volunteer ranger with the National Trust for Scotland before, in 1986 the opportunity to become the first warden at the new Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre brought him back to Dorset. 1997, moved to the Jurassic Coast Project based in the then Dorset County Council, ending up as Earth Science Manager with the World Heritage Site. Left that in 2015 on the grounds that it was largely a waste of time and is now a freelance geologist and guide to this wonderful coast.