Interview | STYLE
Tribe and tide
N AV I G AT I N G I S L A N D FA M I LY L I F E By Em ma Elobeid Pictu res Ti m i Eross
Fossil hunting and rock pooling. Of all the family activities on the Isle of Wight bucket (and spade) list, these two come up trumps. For good reason – our Island is as teeming with the thunderous footprints of long ago as it is with the pitter patter of juvenile crabs and microscopic creatures. And here, at Compton Bay, an intertidal zone opens up and the two dramatically collide.
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his most recent cross-Island trek to the wilds of West Wight’s most prehistoricpacked beach came about because my eldest is ‘doing’ dinosaurs at school this term. Although in truth he’s never not ‘done’ dinosaurs, this latest project has reignited his passion. And so it’s with great excitement that we descend the wooden steps to a world that is both primordial and present at the same time.
Stormy skies are no dampener to dinosaur hunting
A trip to Compton allows you to visualise both sides of the extinction
divide: it’s a place where you can stand on the feet of giants and tiptoe through some of their closest living descendants in the shallows of time and tide. Ok, so prehistoric crustaceans may have been rather more fearsome than the toe-ticklers common underfoot today, but there’s something rather dizzying and deep to the thought. Amid the atmospheric backdrop of Compton’s burnt orange cliffs and the sweet scent of summer rain, we can happily while hours exploring the miniature cliffs, caves and chasms May and June 2021
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