Another fossil collecting post with no actual collecting, eh?
I’m getting rather good at those. The Great Orme is a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) and collecting rocks, fossils, plants, etc is not permitted!
Where these fossils are concerned, look, touch, but don’t take! It is incredibly easy to find Crinoids, Corals, and Brachiopods here, but for the sake of future access, please don’t remove pieces.
Llandudno is a fairly quiet town – or was during the day I visited – which was admittedly a little rainy and cold.
The Great Orme and the Lesser Orme are both enormous formations of stone, with many sites to explore, lots of brilliant views, and plenty of old interesting mines and caves. Unfortunately, my time was quite limited so I stuck to the basics.
There are a few ways up onto the Great Orme – you can walk, drive (via a toll road), take the tram (£8.10 return) or just get the bus (£1.10 each way). The bus was brilliant – more a rollercoaster ride than a bus trip, due to a very steep winding route. I would imagine the tram has the best views, though.
A view from the trig point looking towards the ‘hill of names’.
A view from the trig point looking towards the ‘hill of names’.
The hill above the quarry pit is covered with words and pictures made using loose stones.
The quarry cutting and scree pile.
The quarry cutting and scree pile.
The trig point of the Great Orme, Wales.
A view from the trig point looking towards the ‘hill of names’.
A view from the trig point looking towards Llandudno.
Now, there are a huge amount of places on the Orme you can explore, and there are likely much better fossil hunting sites elsewhere on the headland, but I was quite limited on time so went for the most obvious. I’d have liked to visit the Bronze Age mines, but simply didn’t have the time.
For beginners, this really is the perfect site. Get up to the summit complex, and look around – you’ll see a hill with an old quarry cutting and stones forming words and pictures – really can’t be missed.
The quarry cutting is a two or three minute walk over relatively even grassed terrain, so easy access for children and some people with mobility problems (although I wouldn’t like to try and get a wheelchair there personally). It may not be nearly so forgiving in the wetter months, though.
When you arrive at the cutting, there is a small information board with a little information about the fossils you may see – but lets be honest, most of us will ignore that and head straight to the piles of scree.
You simply cannot fail to find fossils here; there are thousands in the piles. Pretty much every stone you see will have some small fossil.
Below are some photos I took as I sat and had a look through the loose rocks at the bottom of the cutting.
I know its hard to leave your finds behind, but they could easily cordon the area off – you are being trusted to follow the rules.
Piece of a solitary horn Coral found loose in the scree.
Decent quality Coral fossil found loose in the scree.
Numerous bivalve fossils in a loose piece of scree.
Loose piece of scree with large markings; this is likely to be coral from the size.
Loose piece of scree with a bivalve impression and interior cast.
Loose piece of scree with a Crinoid stem and Coral fossil visible.
Loose scree with a few fossils, possibly coral and shells, or multiple examples of one.
Loose scree with a few fossils, possibly coral and shells, or multiple examples of one.
Loose scree with a bivalve fossil – starting to become quite weathered unfortunately.
Loose scree with a Coral fossil – starting to become quite weathered unfortunately.
Loose scree containing impressions of shells or coral – I am not 100% certain.
A shell fossil impression in situ in the cliffs of the cutting.
A shell fossil in situ in the cliffs of the cutting, which someone has obviously tried to remove – and ruined in the process.
Numerous bivalve shell fossils in situ in the cliffs of the cutting.
Obviously a fossil of that face from the Mighty Boosh.