Ringstead Bay in Dorset on the Jurassic Coast is one of the more accessible beaches from my point of view; I have visited it frequently. At first sight it looks a bit unpromising, comprising vast stretches of pebbles, and gravel at high tide. But pause a while. Look a little closer. Wait for the tide to go out. Walk to the east and walk westwards. The secrets of the seashore begin to disclose themselves. The rocks that lie under the pebbles, and form the cliffs both high and low, are geologically very varied and full of fossils. Many wash out after rainy weather and following land slips. The shallow low-tide waters and rock pools are full of different seaweeds, and many more varieties wash ashore after stormy weather. Surprising flotsam drifts ashore too, from long lost beach shoes and shipwreck rusting panels, to cargoes of cigarettes and cream cheese lost overboard from shipping containers. Seashore creatures such as crabs, molluscs, and sea anemones cling to stones and weeds, along with lesser known organisms like sea squirts and sea mats. It is well worth lingering at Ringstead Bay if you are interested in the natural world of seashores. Here is a list of some of the posts written about Ringstead Bay over the past nine years:
RINGSTEAD POSTS
SEASHORE CREATURES
Goose barnacles at Ringstead Bay
Sea wash balls at Ringstead Bay
Holdfast habitat at Ringstead Bay
Toothed top shell at Ringstead Bay
Cuttlefish bones on the beach at Ringstead
Tube-worn holes in Ringstead chalk boulders
Sea squirts and sea mats at Ringstead in February
Sea firs and cystocarps on seaweed
Limpets and tube worms at Ringstead in February
Winkles and razor bills at Ringstead in February
Pitted barnacle shells at Bran Point
Snakelocks anemone wafting in the waves
SEAWEED
Strandline seaweeds at Ringstead Bay
Satin-textured seaweeds at Ringstead
Crinkly seaweed from Ringstead Bay
Brown twisty things at Ringstead
Floating japweed at Ringstead Bay
Oyster thieves at Studland and Ringstead Bays
ROCKS
Ringstead Bay rock textures and patterns part 3
Ringstead Bay rock textures and patterns part 2
Ringstead Bay rock textures and patterns part 1
Septarian nodules at Ringstead
FOSSILS
Ringstead Bay fossil bivalve Ctenostreon proboscideum
Ringstead Bay fossil oyster Deltoideum delta
Fossils of the Trigonia clavellata formation at Ringstead
Jurassic coral fossils at Ringstead
More about fossil oysters from Ringstead Bay
Gryphea dilatata a Jurassic Coast fossil
Fossil worm burrows and scallops at Bran Point
Rhynchonella inconstans and Lopha gregarea
A fossil oyster with a preserved ligament
Fossil oysters with ammonite impressions
PLANTS
Yellow horned poppy at Ringstead Bay
OTHER
Cigarettes and creamy cheese at Ringstead Bay
An odd ball from Ringstead Bay
Some impressions of Ringstead in March
Jessica's Nature Blog 