Bay Tours are Back!

The long awaited and much anticipated Kimmeridge Bay Tours are back on!

Join the world-renowned fossil collector and palaeontologist Dr. Steve Etches, MBE on a tour that will take you back 157 million years into the past, where Kimmeridge Bay was a tropical sea filled with the marine reptiles that now make up the fossil collection in our museum today.

The tour of the bay usually takes around two hours, and you will need to purchase a ticket in advance.

The following dates are available:

February 19th, 2023 - 12:30pm

(These times are coordinated with low tide at the bay)

The Etches Collection – Museum of Jurassic Marine Life places the safety of others as a top priority. The Bay Tours involves some significant risks for the participants and we aim to keep these risks as low as possible. The Museum minimises these risks by:

· Carrying out risk assessments before each tour

· Giving clear safety instructions to ALL participants

· Issuing personal protective equipment to ALL participants

· Participants must notify a member of the museum staff regarding any relevant medical conditions

Important Information

· The Bay is a hazardous environment, so appropriate footwear is essential – Walking boots or Wellingtons are strongly advised.

· Unfortunately, due to the nature of the bay it is inaccessible for wheelchair users and or anyone who has difficulty walking on uneven ground.

· All children under the age of 16 MUST be accompanied by adult. The trip is not suitable for children under the age of 5 years old.

· Trips will go ahead in most weather conditions, so please dress warmly and ideally with a waterproof/windproof coat. You will be notified the evening before the trip if the trip is cancelled due to inclement weather.

· Please note there is little or no mobile telephone signal in Kimmeridge.

· Dogs are not permitted on the Bay Tour.

Parking

You can park free of charge in the museum carpark and walk down to the bay, which takes approximately 15 minutes (1 Mile) There are toilets available at the museum and down at the bay. If you are planning on parking at the bay, there is a toll booth that will charge you the following prices: Motorcycles: £1.20 Cars: £6, Minibuses & Motor Homes: £12, Coaches / Over 15 Seater: £24, Vehicle with Trailer: £18, Vehicle with boat / Canoe on Roof: £12

Payment & Cancellations

Payments must be made in advance, please visit our website: www.theetchescollection.org, email: info@theetchescollection.org or call us on 01929 270000 to provide your payment details. The trip is non-refundable but you may re-arrange on to another tour is you provide us with 48 hours’ notice.

Visiting the museum

If you wish to visit the museum before or after the bay tour you are more than welcome. Prices are as follows: Adults - £9, Children - £4.50, Family Ticket (Two Adults, Two Children) - £22.50, Family Ticket (1 Adult 3 children) £18.

Kimmeridge Bay Tours Cancelled

In response to government advice concerning the current Coronavirus (COVID 19) health emergency, the Etches Collection Museum will be close temporarily to the public from 18 March 2020. This also means that we have had to cancel our upcoming bay tours.

Our absolute priority is the health and safety of our staff, volunteers and visitors in these difficult times. We do not know when we will be able to reopen but we hope to be able to provide further updates soon. 

The Museum collection remains accessible through our website as does our online shop. We will continue to maintain our online database of all our fossil specimens and to provide regular updates on new discoveries and other museum news via our website and social media pages. We hope that this will allow the general public and global scientific community to stay in touch with the Museum.

We will update our website and social media pages accordingly.

Christmas Kimmeridge Bay Tour with Steve Etches at 2.30pm

Your chance to accompany Steve Etches down to Kimmeridge Bay to learn all about the geological and palaeontological importance and history of Kimmeridge, explore the fossil ledges as well as understand safe fossil collecting and conservation.

Adults £15, Children 5-16 £8, Family Ticket 2 adults 2 children £38. No under 5's due to the health and safety requirements of the tour.

***Includes mulled wine and mince pies!!***

Contact us on 01929 270000 to book your place.

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Kimmeridge Bay Tour with Steve Etches at 2.30pm

Your chance to accompany Steve Etches down to Kimmeridge Bay to learn all about the geological and palaeontological importance and history of Kimmeridge, explore the fossil ledges as well as understand safe fossil collecting and conservation.

Adults £15, Children 5-16 £8, Family Ticket 2 adults 2 children £38. No under 5's due to the health and safety requirements of the tour.

Contact us on 01929 270000 to book your place.

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Kimmeridge Bay Tour with Steve Etches at 10.00am

Your chance to accompany Steve Etches down to Kimmeridge Bay to learn all about the geological and palaeontological importance and history of Kimmeridge, explore the fossil ledges as well as understand safe fossil collecting and conservation.

Adults £15, Children 5-16 £8, Family Ticket 2 adults 2 children £38. No under 5's due to the health and safety requirements of the tour.

Contact us on 01929 270000 to book your place.

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Kimmeridge Bay Tour with Steve Etches at 11.00am

Your chance to accompany Steve Etches down to Kimmeridge Bay to learn all about the geological and palaeontological importance and history of Kimmeridge, explore the fossil ledges as well as understand safe fossil collecting and conservation.

Adults £15, Children 5-16 £8, Family Ticket 2 adults 2 children £38. No under 5's due to the health and safety requirements of the tour.

Contact us on 01929 270000 to book your place.

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Stop Frame Animation Workshop with Jessica Mountfield

Fantastic opportunity to create your very own short animation film! Here at the Etches Collection, in association with the Purbeck Film Festival, you can work with the amazing animator Jessica Mountfield and make your own mini-movie.

Jess is a talented Arts University Bournemouth graduate, working at Karrot - a vibrant BAFTA and Emmy Award Winning London Animation Studio. They have produced animations such as Sarah & Duck (Winner - Kidscreen Awards) and The Snowy Day, and have created idents around The Powerpuff Girls and We Bare Bears! They provide animation services to Channel 5, Amazon and Nickelodeon.

Jess also recently completed an internship at Aardman working on Shaun The Sheep 2 and has worked as an animator and director on a variety of 2D projects. She loves all things miniature, all things that move and has a special love for wool.

£16 for workshop including materials and light refreshments. Please bring a packed lunch.

Tickets available online through the Purbeck Film Festival Box office at the Rex Cinema HERE.

Workshop in The Wolfson Discovery Room. 11am - 2.00pm.
Age 8 years and above.

*** Please bring a USB stick in order to download any available animation on the day. ***

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Halloween Dress Up - FREE ENTRY FOR KIDS

Join us for our Halloween dress up!

FREE ENTRY for all children (ages 5-16 years) who visit us on Thursday October 31st in full Halloween fancy dress. We welcome all ghosts, monsters, witches and warlocks but most of all we would love to see your best dinosaur outfits!

We look forward to seeing you……please tweet or Facebook us your amazing outfits and tag us if you are coming to visit us.

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Kimmeridge Bay Tour with Steve Etches at 2.30pm

Your chance to accompany Steve Etches down to Kimmeridge Bay to learn all about the geological and palaeontological importance and history of Kimmeridge, explore the fossil ledges as well as understand safe fossil collecting and conservation.

Adults £15, Children 5-16 £8, Family Ticket 2 adults 2 children £38. No under 5's due to the health and safety requirements of the tour.

Contact us on 01929 270000 to book your place.

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Purbeck Film Festival Movie Night - 'Blue' plus Food and Refreshments

The Purbeck Film Festival & The Etches Collection Museum of Jurassic Marine Life proudly presents the screening of the environmental documentary, ‘BLUE’.

BLUE (PG)
Director: Karina Holden
Documentary | Australia | 2017 | 1 hr 16 mins
Tickets £12 (includes Chilli & Rice, vegetarian option available) catered by The Salt Pig and entrance to view the stunning Etches Collection museum gallery.

"Nuance and complexity sets Blue the Film apart as an environmental documentary. It resists sugar-coating but communicates hope; it simultaneously privileges the scientific and the romantic, the individual and the collective. The images of the ocean's decay stun us, but so do the many images of its beauty - and these factors become change-making forces in Blue" The Big Issue Magazine.

Watch Trailer HERE

Tickets bookable via the Purbeck Film Festival website HERE

SCHEDULE:-

17:00

Doors/bar open and optional museum tour

18:00

Screening of Blue (PG)

19:15

Chilli and Rice (with vegetarian alternative) catered by The Salt Pig

20:00

Second film screening of the evening (film to be announced)

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