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We had a very productive couple of days fossil hunting at Walton on the Naze and an unexpected find on the beach at Holland on Sea while playing with my daughter. Here are the Walton finds: Firstly, left handed whelks (Neptunea) which were plentiful on this occasion (Red Crag formation) Next, Glycymeris and an oyster shell (Red Crag Formation) A handful of Striatolamia from the London Clay formation Two whale bone fragments from the junction bed. These are easy to spot due to their 'waxy' appearance. Very Tactile. An unidentified mammal bone from the Red Crag deposit. When I get a chance I'm going to see if I can narrow this down. Any ideas would be welcome. Holland on Sea The next one was a chance find from the pebble banks on the foreshore near the radar station at Holland on Sea. I was on a walk from Clacton to Walton with my family when I saw this. Its fossilised, feeling very stone like and heavy for its size. I'd love to know what kind of bone (?) this is but I'm guessing its too small to identify unless its possible to do so from the pattern of the inner cortex? Any pointers would be welcome. That's it for now. Thank you for looking.

Hi, Had a family break at Waton on the Naze, Essex over the New Year period and spent 5 mornings combing the beach with the wife and kids. It was remarkably unproductive on most days (as well as freezing!) and so our usual haul was very much reduced. This is what we found: Glycymeris and a couple of Turritella - Red Crag A few nice examples of sharks teeth (striatolamia) - London Clay ..and my personal favourite, a piece of whale bone (balaena sp) from the unconformity between the Red Crag and London Clay. Apparently the waxy appearance is a giveaway but what causes it hasn't been explained to me. Hopefully we'll find a lot more next time.

Hi, Newbie to the forum but I've been picking up odd lumps of rock since I had fingers. I went to the beach with my wife and two kids on the 5th November and we had a productive day. Save for a few dog walkers we virtually had the beach to ourselves. We were there from just after low tide (9am) until the last moment when the sea was lapping at the steps (11:15) and as usual the girls had better eyes than me and my son. This is our trawl: Red Crag: Glycymeris: Neptunea, Oyster and a piece of broken bone (probably later): London Clay: Striatolamia plus an unconvincing core of a larger sharks tooth (I need to compare it to others I have but right now its hovering over the bin) Fossilised Wood (I love these as they are so well preserved but for some reason these are left in their 1000s strewn across the beach) (Much) Later: Lastly I'm including some things found that are a throw back to my Archaeology days. I'm putting these in the 'possible' category. The left hand flake shows signs of rework on the right edge. The second (on the right) is badly photographed but has all the elements that would describe it as a man made flake - at the top is a flat 'striking platform' and on the side facing us is a 'bowl of percussion'. I would love to find a finished tool that can occasionally be found here, That's it. A great morning fossicking, followed by a walk along the sea front and then down to the pier for 10 pin bowling with the family and wasting money on the pier amusement arcade!