Ammonite

When I was a small boy, maybe six or seven-years-old, I found an ammonite like this in a rock pool when playing on the beach at Whitby. I'd never seen anything like it. My dad took us hunting for fossils and later we did the same with our kids. This one was found by one of our boys on a trip to Golden Cap near Lyme Regis where the same rock outcrops. We often camped there when the children were small.

I've been clearing out the pond today, a mucky job I'd been putting off for too long. But it had to be done. The pond was choked with overgrown lilies. It was backbreaking work, pulling up the roots, clogged with mud. I've just put a small lily back there and composted the rest.