Another summer of fun post for you today. Back in August Daddy P took some time off work and we decided to go on a road trip down to Devon. The original plan had been to stay overnight to break up the journey, but my car had broken down the previous week and the money I’d saved for the hotel went to the garage instead! Never mind, I was determined that Monkey would get to the Jurassic Coast. I asked ChelseaMamma and Charlie Moos for some suggestions as I really wanted to take Monkey rock pooling. Charmouth came the reply – you want to have fun on the beach at Charmouth.
We got up bright and early, packed our bucket and spade and headed off to Charmouth. After road closures, diversions and a Daddy P who didn’t like to listen to the Sat Nav we finally arrived at Charmouth. We parked in the large pay and display car park close to the Heritage Coast Centre and the toilets, and we were off.
Of course the weather forecast was for a lovely sunny day, but someone forgot to tell the clouds that!
But we weren’t going to let the weather stopping us from having fun on the beach at Charmouth. Although we might not have been dressed for slightly chillier weather, Monkey got straight down to digging. Mummy, you go rock pooling and find me a crab, I’m digging!
The tide was coming in fast and rock pooling activities would definitely have been better if we’d arrived earlier in the morning. But we now own a fishing net – so we are prepared for future adventures.
Never mind, it was nice to be somewhere new and I had an idea for something to interest Monkey later in the day. But to be honest, Monkey was just happy to be on a beach, digging holes with Daddy P. He was having fun on the beach at Charmouth, and that’s all that really mattered.
After we’d had a picnic lunch and spent more time digging and building sand castles we were all getting a little chilly. We’d been watching some fossil hunters chipping pebbles and I decided it was time to explore the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre. I had a feeling that Monkey might like what they had on display.
My dinosaur mad son was excited to see the exhibits and he even got a chance to uncover some fossils!
There had been a number of activities running during the day, in hindsight we should have gone to the Centre first to see the timings and plan our day that way.
But we did get the chance to buy and shine an ammonite for £1.50. We picked our fossil and the had to sand it down to smooth out where it had been chiselled. Then it was glazed for us.
The Heritage Centre is free to enter and definitely worthwhile planning in to any visit to Charmouth.
No trip to the beach would be complete without an ice cream now would it? Mr Whippy’s all round please Daddy P.
I always bring a pebble back from a beach trip and I’d spotted one on the beach that looked rather interesting. Could I have found some fossils without actually looking for them? Well yes! I put this photo up on my Facebook page in August after our trip and a paleontologist confirmed I’d found two ammonites 🙂
It was time to make the long journey home. We stopped in Weymouth for a fish supper and the heavens opened. We’d certainly had the best of the day. It was lovely to explore somewhere that none of us had visited before and we’d certainly like to return in the future, perhaps not on a day trip though!
A long day trip but packed with fun. Awesome sandcastles and I’m really impressed with the free Heritage Centre, a great way to learn about the coastline and take a little time out from beach fun. I do hope you make it back again one day and make a short break of it too. Thank you for sharing your beach day on Country Kids
We were down there this weekend. Isn’t it a great beach? Always find so many interesting things. Once found a nice lump of fool’s gold, but dropped it. Still looking for it. One day! #CountryKids
Boys and great aren’t they give them a spade and they are happy for hours, my younger son is just the same x
Charmouth sounds like a great place with lots to do for junior palaeontologists. We popped into Lyme Regis earlier this year (only for a couple of hours whilst we were passing) but I’m now wishing we’d gone to Charmouth instead!
That’s quite a journey for a day trip! Looks like a lovely spot to explore though. My husband and I are always thinking of visiting Devon as some friends of ours are big fans. It would definitely involve staying over night though-way too far for us 🙂
We love Charmouth too!
Love Charmouth – it’s not far from us. Looks like you packed heaps into your day out – a classic, family beach trip – you can’t beat them! #CountryKids
Such a lovely fun day! I had not been there before but it look so fun!
Looks like you had a lot of fun! Loving the ice cream photo.
Wow would love to visit the Heritage Centre then look for some of our own fossils. How cool that you found one too!
I’ve just read Cheryl’s post from the same beach! It really does look beautiful there, and the Heritage Centre looks very interesting. Love the photos of all the digging and sandcastle building. #CountryKids
What a lovely day out. We love the beach, especially the icecream bit x
Love Charmouth! We went there a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it. Love your photos too, so much fun! 🙂 #countrykids.
What a lovely time on the beach. Rock pools are such great fun. well done for finding a fossil #CountryKids
Those fossils are amazing! What a nice place. Even if we parents are not ready as long as theres a beach nothing can stop kids in having fun isnt it? #countrykids
Kids respond so well to beaches. It looks like you had a great time and some fine mementos. The allure of the beach does wear off. I took my three kids for a day trip in August and no.1 son (13) refused to get out of the car. We were too embarrassing to be with. #CountryKids
I love the jurassic coast because the cliffs are so dramatic and the colours gorgeous. We stay in nearby Bridport and West Bay every year but have never tried to look for fossils; I think it’ll definitely be on the agenda for our next stay.
NIpping over from Country Kids.
It looks like the perfect summer day! The beach looks like great fun.
That looks like a fantastic day out. Beautiful beach (despite the cold) – and clearly a LOT of fun to be had there. I am SO impressed you found fossils without even trying! Brilliant! #travelwithkids
That looks like so much fun! I loved rock pooling when I was young and so really must introduce my two to this and Charmouth looks like a great place to do so. Although I think my youngest would be more interested in digging in the sand! #travelwithkids
I keep telling myself I need to visit the Jurassic coast – have always wanted to go. How brilliant you should pick up a pebble and find two fossils!
#MondayEscapes
It’s somewhere we need to explore properly, but I was so impressed with my fluke discovery!
Looks like daddy enjoyed the digging too! And no trip to the seaside is complete without an ice cream 🙂 #mondayescapes
I agree
Such a nice day out!
The place looks awesome, I am always happy to be by the water 😀
Great photos!
Happy to have you on #MondayEscapes 😀
Thanks, it was lovely, shame we didn’t have the sun though.