Field Trip to Dix's Pit, Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire. September 2009 I thought it was high time that I went out with the 'regulars' on a fossil collecting trip. Normally, I am happiest when out Mineral hunting, but as I hadn't been anywhere for a while, and as I quite like fossils, it seemed like a perfect opportunity. I was really excited at the prospect of a day out 'fossicking' in the Oxfordshire Clay!! I arrived bright and earlyish at Marion & Geoff Strattons' to travel the relatively short distance in the 'PaleoVan/Wagon' to arrive at the Pit office to sign in at 9am. We had thought it may just be us 3 on this trip, so It was a lovely surprise to be met by James and Georgina Tunnicliffe-King and a member I had not met before, Alan Saxon. Marion 'did the honours' and signed us all in, whilst new health & safety measures meant we also had to carry a gas warning moniter to alert us to any toxic fumes we may encounter. Deciding who was the most responsable adult to wear it seemed slightly more of a concern than actually getting gassed...... The weather was fantastic! It started out a bit cloudy and turned into a really hot, sunny day. It meant a sunburnt neck and a baked aroma of landfill soup - but did we care? No! We were having too much fun scooping up Ammonites and happily chatting. Dix Pit / Quarry is one of many landfill sites currently run by the Hanson group. In preperation for filling a new area within the pit, a new 'cell' is dug and lined with Oxford Clay. The clay acts as a pretty good liner to prevent decomposing stuff in the pit from leaching out into the surrounding land and contaminating the groundwater. Gas pipes are sunk into the cell to allow Methane and other gases to escape or get pumped into tanks and the cell, once filled, is then capped with more Clay to seal it. I think thats basically right, anyway.... So, we were collecting fossils from the newly spread Oxford Clay, lining the latest Cell before any rubbish got tipped in it. And the fossils were just laying on the surface........how cool is that? And my wellie boots didn't get muddy either, as it was so dry! Right next to the area where we were collecting, was an older area of the pit that was quite wild and a picturesque wetland, with Moorhens and hundreds of dragonflies. Some of the ponds had dried out over the summer, and there were dozens of hand sized Oyster shells (Gryphea) everywhere in the cracked clay. Lack of storage space back home was a good deterrent for collecting any of these! Instead I entertained myself with trying to photograph the elusive Dragonflies, and got bitten half to death by flying biting beasties for my troubles :-) All of us had a successful collecting day, with many margarine tubs and plastic bags getting filled. Being a relative 'newbie' at fossil collecting, and my first visit to Stanton Harcourt, I managed a fairly impressive 52 Ammonites of several species from 5mm to a few cms and some brachiopods; bivalves and an Echinoid. Many of the fossils are pyritised and look rather attractive for beasties that died back in the Jurassic Seas! I had a great day out! Lovely bunch of people to hang out with - lovely weather, cool fossils , and we didn't get gassed!! Result. I may give this fossicking lark another go..... Colleen Thomson