Exhibition for West Bay Discovery Centre summer season

'Buried in Time' is a new pop-up exhibition at the West Bay Discovery Centre which is now open six days a week for the summer season.

As reported, the centre won Gold in both Visitor Information Service of the Year and the Ethical, Responsible & Sustainable Business categories at the latest Dorset Tourism Awards. It has also been put forward as a finalist in the South West Tourism Excellence Awards.

Boosted by its success in the award schemes, the centre is ready to welcome visitors for the new season and show what it has to offer.

The new exhibition features the coastal geology of the West Bay area and includes superb fossil specimens of creatures from the Jurassic age, some 170 million years ago.

Trustee John West said: "The exhibition reveals that buried beneath our feet and in the towering cliffs is a history, not just of West Bay, but of the development of the Earth through hundreds of millions of years. It makes the link between fossils and the real life creatures that lived in Jurassic seas.

"Buried in Time also tells the story of three individual fossil collectors, including how a boy’s first chance fossil find near West Bay led to a lifetime of interest that in turn helped shaped scientific understanding of the development of the earth."

The exhibition includes hands-on activities for children and will be supported by talks and guided walks. It offers an entry point to understanding the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, its geological processes and fossils, hopefully sparking an interest to find out more.

The exhibition runs until the end of October.

The centre, which operates on a charitable basis and is run by a part-time manger supported by an army of volunteers, is now open 11am-4pm Tuesday to Sunday. It does not charge admission but welcomes donations from visitors to help meet its running costs.

Find out more at www.westbaydiscoverycentre.org.uk