Day 2 of our south coast trip saw us all up and at em…bright and early at 5:55am! 🤪 The boys sat and chilled out in the warm conservatory with their books and Mummy and Daddy sorted out breakfast and lunches for the day.

It’s so lovely driving through new towns and villages, seeing all the thatched roof cottages and Ye Olde England buildings, finding little alleyways and hidden shops, catching a glimpse of little secret places we can explore! As soon as Mummy sorted the parking out (An app, but no signal, a ‘takes cash only’ machine, but no cash!…Ooooh!…Ell, do you have any money in your holiday wallet?!

Monmouth Beach was first on the itinerary today! Mummy lost a pair of sunglasses to Elliott and Nate commented on how smooth the stones were. Daddy was enjoying the sound of the rocks tapping each other on their way back to the sea, each time a new wave moved them along on their journey, a bit like us with the tap-tap-tapping of a stick on the bank of my leg, as Nate found another 1.5m long beauty to drag along with us. We were searching for ammonite fossils, on the rocks. LOOK! LOOK! Here’s one! Mummy exclaimed with all the excitement of a kid finding candy! They were awesome! Hundreds of thousands of years old. Just there, imprinted on rocks, for all to see, for millennia! Then it was a race to see who could find a bigger/better/clearer/more complete one! Elliott & Mummy were off, like the possessed…with Nate not far behind!

We walked a good 100m along the beach where it became quiet only the hardcore ammonite hunters remained! Should we stop and go back? Nope. We were thirsty for more! Further along the beach (a lot further along!) was the ‘ammonite pavement’ but it looked like it had been hidden by some major clay cliff fall debris. We had seen some beautiful examples of ammonite fossil’s and had another beach to conquer that day…but something inside spurred us on! We kept walking and walking…200m…300m…There was no-one else around…ooooh! Limpets and sea snails! And a lot of slippery green sea moss! Accident No’s. 1, 2 & 3 all occurred in the next 2 hours, all attributed to Elliott. The sea, at this point along the coast, certainly had a ‘pavement’ to wash up upon, but there were no ammonites to be seen. Just a little further…some rock tower building…

More imprints…just another 20m…

THIS IS IT!!!!!!! Look it’s an ammonite pavement!!!!

They were everywhere! Raised ammonites and printed ones, all over the smooth, rock floor. We started a while then realised we’d been Walking and exploring for over 3 hours so headed back to the car, to add more time, so we could go and explore the Town Mill! But not before Nate had found a few more awesome examples. “Just call me the Fossil Hunter’ he declared!

After a discussion about when to add another 2 hours to the car…you have signal now! We have no more cash…there’s a card payment machine over there…then you have to walk back to the car again!…it’s fine, I have signal, the apps working now…just do it now so it’s done…no, I’m m we have 9 minutes left on the car, I’m not paying for those 9 minutes twice!…off we went to look for icecreams. On the way we found the bowls green with ’kids bowl for £1!’ And a very kind bowling expert on hand to teach the boys how to bowl!…we only had limited time to get to the mill…and No cash, so we agreed to come back at the end time permitting!!! There are the icecreams! While the boys queued, Mummy attempted to buy the parking as it was now 1:57pm and the current parking has lapsed. So obviously, there was NO SIGNAL on the app again! Thankfully, Ell needed the toilet (saved by the flush!) so Mummy raced back with him, almost to the car…visited the loo (just him, Mummy doesn’t do public toilets) tick, tick, tick…painfully aware of the gloating that could (rightfully) be thrown at me…need to buy a parking ticket, toilet faster son! My dignity and pride depend on it. Finally…ticket machine, ticket, run, car, no yellow ticket, new ticket in place, run…saunter slowly back into ice cream shop. Husband…none the wiser. Hopefully. I don’t think.

Ell keeps asking about different jobs to do, but sometimes asks in less than convenient situations… “ Is being a potter a good job!”

We had a great look at the 3 floors of the Town Mill,poking at how the water mill turns the machinery to make flour, using the original grain crushing mill stones…then had to leave for a double toilet run. On the way home we did indeed stop for a go at bowls! (After Mummy’s 3rd trip to the car to search for £2) and Ell scored a huge 50 points, hitting the central circle, which he was thoroughly excited about!

The time was now 4pm, so, naturally, it was time for a second beach visit of the day! Off to Charmouth we went! And it was a beauty! For many reasons! Which I will explain…but first, another boiled egg! “Just call me the egg man!”

Charmouth has a wonderful Heritage Centre, a fairly pebbly beach (beach shoes a must) but as the River Char flows through it and into the sea, there is a warm, shallow, fast moving, stream for the children to play in. Grass area set up for BBQs, a great sandy stretch and some of the most amazing, easily found fossils you could hope to come across! They’re hidden in the soft clay which is slowly falling down from the cliffs, just pull a chunk apart and there they are! Pyrite, ‘fool’s gold’ are actual ammonite (and other!) fossils, not just imprints on rocks, but ones you can hold in your hand. We found a few very small, special ones and after a feast of cold pizza, raw carrots and more boiled eggs on the sand, we called it a day at 6:30pm!