index

Exmouth to Milford on Sea

including the East Devon & Dorset World Heritage Site

1800-2000

The Index page is updated as material is found from various sources. Updating also applies to every other page on this site. Pages which were combined have been split as more photos were acquired. Several hundred slides from the 1960 to 1990s are presently being uploaded on pages from the Undercliff to Studland. Green star indicates ongoing uploading,

I have just (December 2016) acquired a number of Dorset coast slides, taken in 1969 Swanage and 1972 Lyme Regis to Abbotsbury plus Lulworth

Contact

These pages grew out of an original project to celebrate 150 years of the Geologists' Association and 200 years of the Geological Society. The Dorset GA Group celebrated with a 'Local Heroes' weekend at Sutton Poyntz Pumping Station, Weymouth (thanks to Wessex Water and the curator John Willows and sponsorship from the Geological Society) Our heroes were Michael Robert House 1930 -2002 (formerly a Dorset GA member), William Jocelyn Arkell 1904 -1958 and Peter Colley Sylvester-Bradley 1913 -1978, all eminent Dorset and International Geologists, members of the aforesaid Institutions and with many other geological talents. Added to the geologists were displays on the Dorset and East Devon World Heritage Site and the changes our heroes would have seen throughout their lives and careers.

To this end I began collecting postcards, magic lantern slides, etchings and whatever else I could obtain on the subject of the WHS coastline from Exmouth to Old Harry rocks. I added in the rest of the Dorset coast and a little of Hampshire as Highcliffe and Barton on Sea featured in the Dorset GA book 'Coast & Country, geology walks in Dorset and neighbouring Counties'. Most items came from ebay auctions, and an increasing number from members of the Dorset GA and other interested parties (see list below). A small roll of educational film found by Alan Holiday included some delightful photos of activities such as seine net fishing on the Chesil and horse drawn wagons unloading timber at West Bay. I have added scans of relevant magic lantern slides from the magnificent Bournemouth Natural Science Society Collections. Mrs Felicity House, widow of Prof. Michael House, gave the Dorset GA a vast boxful of his slides of the Dorset coast which he had taken for over 50 years. They were used as a computer display for the 'Local Heroes' event and subsequently as power point presentations on many occasions. Michael's slides of views and rock thin sections are now on web pages on the Dorset GA site as are Keith Abeniri's (founder member of the Dorset GA) photomicrographs of the rocks and minerals. Prof. Denys Brunsden gave me permission to use any of his material which he had donated to the Charmouth Heritage Centre,which Sam Scriven kindly looked out for me. I also acquired a number of original slides purchased by Peter Bath after the abrupt closure of Rousden School at Lyme Regis. They were taken by the Headmaster and Geology teacher Mr K R Moore. They range from Exmouth to Old Harry rocks. The slides also included a number of old Aero Educational slides. The slides, some 1200, from Michael House and Mr Moore were transcribed onto disc by Leon Sparrow, an enormous undertaking.

Ian West's vast gathering of information on Wessex Geology mainly uses modern photographs and explanations but also includes 'ancient history' on the subject. His comments and those of Ramues Gallois have been most helpful as their knowledge of this glorious coastline is immense.

A few of the pictures on this site have a high-res version but if others should be required an email will ensure I either add another version to the site or email anyone a copy. These are, of course, not modern digital photographs so the quality is variable and not always particularly conducive to enlargement. Dates are not always absolute. Postcards can sometimes be dated as when published especially the long term firms, but not when actually taken. Posting dates are not always an accurate indication as the same negative can be used over many years, sometimes with edited highlights. Judge's and Frith's postcards can mostly be dated by the number on the card. Valentine's have a much less straightforward dating system. Anything labelled jv plus a date is when the photo was first registered not necessarily the date it was taken. Cars, people (especially clothing), boats and major incidents are all useful indicators of time which I have used whenever possible. I have arranged the images in the individual pages from west to east wherever possible. If you can see I have it wrong, you are welcome to put me right (preferably politely).

Michael

Robert

House

William

Jocelyn

Arkell

Peter Colley

Sylvester

-Bradley

Images (supplied and/or taken by)

updated: December 24, 2016

Dr Ian West (Hon. member Dorset GA)

Prof Michael House (formerly member Dorset GA)

Mrs Felicity House (Hon. member Dorset GA)

Prof Denys Brunsden

Dr Ramues Gallois (Hon. member Dorset GA)

Bournemouth Natural Science Society

Alan Holiday (Chairman Dorset GA)

Ron Clements (formerly member Dorset GA)

Dr Eric Robinson (Hon. member Dorset GA)

Hugh Prudden (Dorset GA)

Peter Bath (Dorset GA) photographs taken by K R Moore

John Chaffey (President Dorset GA)

William Stone (postcard collector)

Doreen Smith (Dorset GA)

Maureen Keats (Dorset GA/Dorset County Museum)

William Swinton (Dorset County Museum)

June White (Dorset County Museum)

Michael & Jo Thomas (formerly Dorset GA)

Sam Scriven (WHS team DCC)

Adrian Brokenshire (Ist Chairman Dorset GA)

Mike Hinton (Dorset GA/Christchurch Borough Council)

IMW

MRH

RWG

BNSS

HPB

PB/KRM

WAS

MT/JT

Any and all opinions expressed on this site are those of the webmaster

A conversation with Mrs Maureen Keats, when on our way to a palaeontological conference, led to the discovery of some 1000 of her photographs of Dorset geology from the 1960s taken while she was Geology Curator at Dorset County Museum. I subsequently transcribed all of them plus 400-500 taken mainly by a William A Stanton, ranging from 1950s-70s (with kind permission of DCM). Many of them are slowly appearing on this site

Dorset GA

Wessex Geology

(Dr Ian West)

photos & thin sections

(Prof. Michael House)

(Keith Abeneri)