I’ve built up a collection from a beach in Weymouth that could help to establish what biodiversity in the UK was like over the course of millions of years
All photos by Alexander Turner
My interest in fossils began at the age of 10 in my back garden in Glastonbury, Somerset, where I discovered ammonites. With hindsight, it wasn’t beauty that drew me to them, but the magic of discovery. I was drawn in by their sheer age, and the unfathomable nature of the distant past.
After my degree in natural sciences in 1965 I wanted to go as far away as I could, so I applied to teach biology in Ghana. It was a fantastic period of my life where I discovered a lot more than rocks in the back garden. After eight years I came back to the UK, and spent much of the next decades raising four children. At times it was a hard life and I put all my dreams of research on hold.
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