Field Testing our new title: A Guide to Fossil Collecting in England and Wales

We now have advance copies of our forthcoming title: A Guide to Fossil Collecting in England and Wales, written by Steve Snowball and Craig Chapman of UKAFH (UK Amateur Fossil Hunters - the UK's largest fossil hunting organization), so we decided to give it a field test by visiting one of the sites described in the book that was local to us here in Rochdale.

The site we visited was Newhey Quarry, which we found easily following the directions given in the book. This is a Carboniferous locality famous for its plant fossils with a four (out of five) star listing for find frequency. We were not disappointed. We found plenty of Calamites fragments, several concretions and also some lycopods, similar to those figured in the book. We also found several nice examples of the marine bed ripple marks, shown in the photo above.

With more than 50 additional sites described in this book we are really looking forward to getting out and about a bit more over the coming months, once the weather has warmed up a bit. It will certainly be a useful reference guide when planning future holidays or day trips out and about.

Click on the cover below to read more about this book, including reviews, contents, etc. or to order your advance copy now and receive it before the formal release date of 1 Feb.