Britain at its best: in the beautiful seaside town of Lyme Regis, home to millions of years old fossils and a thriving restaurant scene
Back in the day, before anyone had ever heard of dinosaurs, Dorset residents would stumble across strangely shaped rocks on the beach – and sell them as curiosities.
The curved sea creatures we know as ammonites they called ‘sea serpents’. And the belemnites, mollusks, they called, rather colourfully, ‘devil’s fingers’.
Later it became clear that they were millions of years old. Many of these ‘curiosities’ are now exhibited in the Natural History Museum.
It all took place on the pebble beaches and crumbling cliffs of the Jurassic Coast, near the beautiful seaside town of Lyme Regis.
When I go with my other half, we can’t resist going fossil hunting. To this day, the coast is still eroding, revealing the remains of long-extinct species.
Thomas W Hodgkinson heads to the seaside town of Lyme Regis for fossil hunting, indoor ‘real tennis’ and seafood
The photo shows Lyme Regis’ Dorset House mansion, where ‘breakfast is an event’
Above you can see the cute harbour in Lyme Regis, which is located on the Jurassic Coast
Prehistoric ammonite fossils (above) can be found on pebble beaches near Lyme Regis
We go to Monmouth Beach, where the Duke of Monmouth once began his ill-fated rebellion, and find it littered with fossil hunters. It is a strange sight. Everyone is crawling over the pebbles and staring down. Alas, we leave empty-handed.
Dorset Houseour sleeping place, is a beautiful mansion in Lyme, run by Jason Martin and his wife Lynn.
Breakfast is an event, with delicious local ingredients. Each room has a thick iron key, much better than broken key cards.
And I’m glad I discovered by chance that Jason, like me, is a fan of real tennis.
That’s the kind of tennis that Henry VIII played. It’s played indoors, with odd nooks and crannies to hit the ball to. It’s also the most beautiful of racket sports. Of the handful of tennis courts in England, Hyde Tennis Club, near Lyme, is one of the best.
When Thomas visits Monmouth Beach (above) it is ‘littered with fossil hunters’ but he leaves empty-handed
Serene: Tourists relax on the beach and Lyme Regis promenade
Thomas discovers Lyme Regis has a ‘thriving restaurant scene’
Leaving the actual tennis aside, a highlight of any visit is the crowded, delightfully chaotic Lyme Regis Museum.
Here you will find a table top that once belonged to the Victorian paleontologist and eccentric William Buckland. The strange thing is that he made it from coprolites (dinosaur droppings).
One of the less idiosyncratic acts of Buckland’s life was the financial support he gave to Mary Anning, a fossil collector from Lyme Regis.
She had a genius for finding them, but her achievements went largely unnoticed until recently. Now she’s a school-taught heroine, and the subject of a mildly risqué film, Ammonite (2020), played by Kate Winslett.
Perhaps our most surprising discovery in Lyme is the thriving restaurant scene. The Oyster and Fish House, run by celebrity chef Mark Hix, serves tender, locally caught octopus with spicy patatas bravas: the best thing I eat when I’m in town.
And then of course there’s fish and chips: for the very best fish and chips look no further than the Hive Beach Cafe in nearby Burton Bradstock.
I can also vouch for the Coquilles St Jacques – scallops in potato and Gruyere cheese – at the Millside. It’s phenomenal.
And you’ll probably need to be a full-grown plesiosaur to eat your way through the lobster, shrimp, crab cakes (and more) in the restaurant’s impressive seafood platter.
