Jurassic Coast

The dramatic landslipped towers of Chalk at Hooken Cliff, viewed westwards from Beer Head, Devon. The photo is a panorama compiled from three portrait format shots.

This is Hooken beach, just east of Branscombe, Devon.

Beer Roads, Devon A single fishing boat heads into the small bay which serves as a harbour at Beer, at the end of a perfect day. The white Chalk cliffs of Beer contrast beautifully with the red Triassic sandstone cliffs in the distance near Seaton.

This is the toe of the landslide of 8th May 2008 just east of Church Cliff, Lyme Regis, Dorset. As well as Jurassic shales and limestones, the landslide also brought down debris from a former landfill site including many glass bottles and rusty motor car components.

The Spittles is an extensive area of landslides between Lyme Regis and Charmouth, Dorset. In the centre is the toe of the landslide of 8th May 2008 just east of Church Cliff. As well as Jurassic shales and limestones, the landslide also brought down debris from a former landfill site including many glass bottles and rusty motor car components.

A distant view of The Cobb, Lyme Regis, Dorset, stretching into a calm sea at the top of the tide, on a hazy, lazy Spring morning. Photo taken from The Spittles.

Originally uploaded for the Guesswhere UK group. This is a view looking up at the landslide area at the western end of Pinhay Bay, east Devon. The trees are at all sorts of odd angles and some have fallen completely due to the continuing intermittent landslide movements. The top of the landslide scar is seen in this photo: www.ipernity.com/doc/earthwatcher/39024280

Charton Bay is a lovely secluded location mid-way between Lyme Regis and Seaton. Access is very limited: a very steep private footpath (involving steps and a ladder) down the cliff from the South West coastal path, or a three mile slog along the beach from either Seaton or Lyme Regis.

Originally uploaded for the Guesswhere UK group. This is located next to the South West Coast Path which runs through the Axmouth to Lyme Regis Undercliff National Nature Reserve, a conservation area of international importance. This is an area of extensive landslides which have created a jumble of ridges and chasms, now the location of luxurious woodland and special habitats for plants, birds, insects and other animals. The 'undercliff' is the area between the beach and the back landslide scarp face, which may be as much as 700 metres inland. Mostly this is dense woodland, but occasionally there are more open areas where landslides are still intermittently active, where the larger trees have either been uprooted or have not yet had the chance to mature (as is the case here, viewed from the back scarp face of one of the more recent landslides). Just visible on the distant horizon is the Isle of Portland, far across the other side of Lyme Bay.

Another view of The Spittles landslide near Charmouth, Dorset, this time looking east. Golden Cap is visible on the distant skyline. The Spittles is a wilderness of extensive, active, multiple landslides in Lower Lias (Lower Jurassic) shales, overlain by the Upper Greensand (Cretaceous) which forms the inland golden cliff to the leftt. In the foreground is a recent rotational landslide. The sloping grassy surface in the foreground was originally horizontal and level with the grass on the left. This section has slipped downwards and rotated anticlockwise. The yellow sand cliff in the left foreground is the landslide back scar. Panorama stitched manually from 2 wide-angle photos.

A photo-study of Burton Cliff near Burton Bradstock, Dorset. Having spent the day at Seatown a few miles to the west, and seeing the afternoon light was turning to a beautiful gold, we realised that the yellow Bridport Sands at Burton Cliff would be spectacular in in the light of the setting sun. So we rushed over to see. And so it proved.... These photos were taken in RAW mode using a polarising filter, but no post-processing enhancement other than slight adjustments to the exposure and contrast settings. Burton Cliff is comprised of the Bridport Sands at the top of the Middle Lias in the Lower Jurassic.

A photo-study of Burton Cliff near Burton Bradstock, Dorset. Having spent the day at Seatown a few miles to the west, and seeing the afternoon light was turning to a beautiful gold, we realised that the yellow Bridport Sands at Burton Cliff would be spectacular in in the light of the setting sun. So we rushed over to see. And so it proved.... These photos were taken in RAW mode using a polarising filter, but no post-processing enhancement other than slight adjustments to the exposure and contrast settings. Burton Cliff is comprised of the Bridport Sands at the top of the Middle Lias in the Lower Jurassic.

A photo-study of Burton Cliff near Burton Bradstock, Dorset. Having spent the day at Seatown a few miles to the west, and seeing the afternoon light was turning to a beautiful gold, we realised that the yellow Bridport Sands at Burton Cliff would be spectacular in in the light of the setting sun. So we rushed over to see. And so it proved.... These photos were taken in RAW mode using a polarising filter, but no post-processing enhancement other than slight adjustments to the exposure and contrast settings. Burton Cliff is comprised of the Bridport Sands at the top of the Middle Lias in the Lower Jurassic.

A photo-study of Burton Cliff near Burton Bradstock, Dorset. Having spent the day at Seatown a few miles to the west, and seeing the afternoon light was turning to a beautiful gold, we realised that the yellow Bridport Sands at Burton Cliff would be spectacular in in the light of the setting sun. So we rushed over to see. And so it proved.... These photos were taken in RAW mode using a polarising filter, but no post-processing enhancement other than slight adjustments to the exposure and contrast settings. Burton Cliff is comprised of the Bridport Sands at the top of the Middle Lias in the Lower Jurassic.

A photo-study of Burton Cliff near Burton Bradstock, Dorset. Having spent the day at Seatown a few miles to the west, and seeing the afternoon light was turning to a beautiful gold, we realised that the yellow Bridport Sands at Burton Cliff would be spectacular in in the light of the setting sun. So we rushed over to see. And so it proved.... These photos were taken in RAW mode using a polarising filter, but no post-processing enhancement other than slight adjustments to the exposure and contrast settings. Burton Cliff is comprised of the Bridport Sands at the top of the Middle Lias in the Lower Jurassic.

This is at Burton Freshwater where the River Bride flows into Lyme Bay. The Bridport Sands (Jurassic) form the yellow cliff on the left, glowing in the late afternoon sunshine.

Seatown beach and Golden Cap, Dorset, in the late afternoon sunshine. A peaceful place near the end of a glorious early Spring day.

Ridge Cliff, east of Seatown in Dorset, is capped by the golden Upper Greensand Formation (Cretaceous). This is in turn underlain by Lower Jurassic strata, including the Eype Clay at the base of the cliff. The latter is quite prone to landslides and mudflows. The afternoon sun bathes everything in a golden light which together with the blue sky is intensified by a polarising filter.