Earthwatcher's photos with the keyword: Rhaetic

This lovely, lonely place is Charton Bay on the south-east Devon coast, about midway between Seaton and Lyme Regis. The popular South West Coastal Path passes inland along the undercliff within a few hundred metres of this spot, but there is no public access to the beach here from the path, nor is the bay visible from the path. The only (non-trespassing) way to get here is either by boat or by a 3-mile slog along the beach, either from Lyme Regis or Seaton. As the beach route in either direction involves quite a bit of boulder hopping, this tends to be a very quiet spot. In the 19th and early 20th century there were once private gardens near here in the undercliff, which were planted up with all sorts of exotics. Two of these can be seen in this photo - the Pampas grass and the Holme oak are now unwelcome and very invasive. The cliffs in the distance expose the White Lias (Rhaetic) rocks.

View eastwards along Charton Bay, eat Devon. The cliffs here are of White Lias (Rhaetic) marls with thin limestones.

The tide was nearly at its lowest and extensive rock ledges were exposed at the western end of Pinhay Bay, Devon, just west of Lyme Regis. I was fascinated by the pattern of joints in the rock ledges (White Lias (Rhaetic), I think).