In April Lyme Regis will be joining forces with London's Natural History Museum to stage 'Deep Time In Lyme' a celebration of rocks, fossils and evolution.

Photograph of The Cobb, Lyme Regis

Deep Time in Lyme, a fossil festival running 28-30 April 2006, has been made possible with the award of a grant of £49,400 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and will feature a range of events and activities based on Charmouth & Lyme Regis' unparalleled geology, fossils and role in the birth of the earth sciences.

Seeking to reach new audiences and deepen the learning experience Deep Time In Lyme Builds on the success of last year's Lyme Regis Fossil Festival. The Festival offers an eclectic mix of activities for people of all ages and backgrounds delivered through collaboration between Charmouth Heritage Centre, the Natural History Museum in London, the Lyme Regis Development Trust and Lyme Regis Museum.

In the run up to the event there will be a videoconference between schools and the Natural History Museum. This will then be followed up with a range of educational activities at the Festival, based around the Town's Museum and Marine Theatre area. A celebration of the life of local fossil hunter Mary Anning will take place on Friday 28 April, and is aimed at school students. Local schools are being offered funding support from a range of other partners to bring parties to Charmouth and Lyme Regis for the day. The educational programme is being developed with Dr Anjana Khatwa, Educational Coordinator from the Jurassic Coast Team, and the Learning Department at the Natural History Museum.

The weekend of the Festival (29 & 30 April) is open to the general public and offers a range of participative activities including exhibitions from numerous talented local fossil collectors and experts; a wide range of fossil-related activities for families; displays at Lyme Regis Museum; Herbie Treehead's Dinosaur Circus; and fossil walks and talks.

Deep Time In Lyme will include a re-enactment of The Great Debate, which restages the heated discussions between the early evolutionists and the Church in the mid nineteenth century, highlighting how the uncovering of the fossil record played an important part in revealing the history of life on the planet.

The Natural History Museum Fossil Roadshow is taking place again this year and palaeontologist Jeremy Young is keen to identify any fossils found by amateur fossil hunters from the recent landslide on the Jurassic Coast. Jeremy said 'Last year we identified some fossils that surpassed the ones in the collection of the Natural History Museum, and this year I'm hoping that the recent landslide will have unearthed more treasures new to science'.