Lyme Bay

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Lyme Bay

Lyme Bay is an area of the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel is an Arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest, to only in the Strait of Dover....
situated in the southwest of England

England

Torbay

Torbay is an east-facing bay and natural harbour, at the western most end of Lyme Bay in the south-west of England, situated roughly midway between the cities of Exeter and Plymouth....
in the west and Portland

Isle of Portland

The Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, Dorset, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England....
in the east. The counties of Devon

Devon

Devon is a large Counties of England in South West England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county but often indicating a shire....
and Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a Counties of England in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester, Dorset, situated in the south of the county at ....
front onto the bay.

The area around Lyme Bay is part of a World Heritage Site

World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 Sovereign state which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term....
, the Jurassic Coast

Jurassic Coast

The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. The site stretches from Orcombe Point near Exmouth, Devon in East Devon to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage in East Dorset, a distance of ....
, named for its Jurassic

Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period that extends from about annum to Ma, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous....
geology

Geology

Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitute the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structural geology, physical properties, dynamics, and History of the Earth of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed....
. The Jurassic Coast runs from near Swanage

Swanage

Swanage is a small coastal town in the south east of Dorset, England. It is situated at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck, approximately 10 kilometre south of Poole and 40 km east of Dorchester, Dorset....
in the Isle of Purbeck

Isle of Purbeck

The Isle of Purbeck, not a true island but a peninsula, is in the county of Dorset, England. It is bordered by the English Channel to the south and east, where steep cliffs fall to the sea; and by the marshy lands of the River Frome, Dorset and Poole Harbour to the north....
to near Exmouth

Exmouth, Devon

'Exmouth' is a harbor town and seaside resort in Devon, England, at the east side of the mouth of the River Exe. It has a population of 32,972 ....
in East Devon

East Devon

East Devon is a Non-metropolitan district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Sidmouth.The district was formed on April 1, 1974 by the merger of the borough of Honiton with the urban districts of Budleigh Salterton, Exmouth, Devon, Ottery St....
.

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Encyclopedia

Lyme Bay is an area of the English Channel

English Channel

England

Torbay

Isle of Portland

Devon

Dorset

World Heritage Site

Jurassic Coast

Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period that extends from about annum to Ma, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous....
geology

Geology

Swanage

Isle of Purbeck

Exmouth, Devon

'Exmouth' is a harbor town and seaside resort in Devon, England, at the east side of the mouth of the River Exe. It has a population of 32,972 ....
in East Devon

East Devon

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrate animals of Landform ecosystems for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic Period until the end of the Cretaceous Period , when most of them became extinct in the Cretaceous?Tertiary extinction event....
and other prehistoric reptile

Reptile

Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia, are air-breathing, cold-blooded vertebrates that have skin covered in scale as opposed to hair or feathers....
remains were in the area surrounding Lyme Regis

Lyme Regis

Lyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester, Dorset and east of Exeter. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border....
and Charmouth

Charmouth

Charmouth is a village at the mouth of the River Char in West Dorset, England. The village has a population of 1,687 according to the 2001 census....
. Notable among these were the discoveries made by self-educated paleontologist and fossil collector Mary Anning

Mary Anning

Mary Anning was an early British fossil collector and paleontology....
, in the 1820s.

The weather in the bay is temperate by English standards, and far more temperate than many other places at a similar latitude. The reason for this is the warming action of the Gulf Stream

Gulf Stream

The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Current, is a powerful, warm, and swift Atlantic Ocean ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico, exits through the Straits of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland and Labrador before crossing the At...
. The area along the coast of Lyme Bay is thus a popular holiday destination. On 22 March 1993, four schoolchildren died in what is known as the Lyme Bay kayaking tragedy

Lyme Bay kayaking tragedy

On 22 March 1993, a group of eight pupils and their teacher were accompanied by two instructors from an outdoor centre in a canoe trip across Lyme Bay, on the south coast of England....
.

Lyme Bay was the site of Exercise Tiger

Exercise Tiger

Exercise Tiger was the code name for two military exercises held in the United Kingdom during the Second World War:*The first, conducted in 1942, was an Army-level exercise by Commonwealth forces and the largest ever held in the UK up to then....
, a practice run for the D-Day

D-Day

D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable , designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar terms....
invasion of France

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
in 1944, using the beach called Slapton Sands near Slapton, Devon

Slapton, Devon

Slapton is a coastal village in Devon, England. It is located on the A379 road between Kingsbridge and Dartmouth, Devon, and lies within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty ....
as the practice landing area. The operation went horribly wrong when German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
E-boats appeared on the scene and killed 749 American

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for Army operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S....
and Navy personnel in the middle of the bay.

A new ship currently under construction for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is a component of the Naval Service that keeps the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom running around the world. Its main function is to supply the Royal Navy with fuel and supplies....
carries the name of the area, RFA Lyme Bay

RFA Lyme Bay (L3007)

RFA Lyme Bay is a Bay class landing ship dock auxiliaries landing ship dock of the United Kingdom Royal Fleet Auxiliary.Lyme Bay was built by Swan Hunter on the River Tyne....
.

The beached container ship

Container ship

Container ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size containers, in a technique called containerization. They form a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport....
, MSC Napoli

MSC Napoli

MSC Napoli was a United Kingdom-flagged container ship that was deliberately broken up by salvors after she ran into difficulty in the English Channel on 18 January 2007....
, is visible from Lyme Bay.

Wildlife

The diving

Underwater diving

Underwater diving is the practice of going underwater Scuba diving or without breathing apparatus.Recreational diving is a popular activity ....
off Lyme Bay is famous. As well as some tank wrecks from the D-Day practice, the marine life is some of the best in Britain and includes the Devon cup coral (Caryophyllia smithii) and rare pink sea fan (Eunicella verrucosa). The reefs have been under threat from scallop dredging which, if unregulated, might destroy the coral's habitat. Devon Wildlife Trust

Devon Wildlife Trust

The Devon Wildlife Trust is a member of The Wildlife Trusts partnership covering the county of Devon, England. It is a registered charity, established in 1962 as the Devon Naturalists Trust, and its aim is to safeguard the future of the county's urban, rural and marine wildlife and its environment....
has been campaigning to protect the reefs, calling for an end to the dredging and trawling within a 60sq mile zone to help the reefs recover. Thankfully about 20% of this area is now protected by a voluntary agreement made between the DEFRA and the enlightened fishermen of the South West Inshore Fishermen's Association. The reefs that the fishermen have agreed to protect from towed fishing gear are home to a spectacular marine diversity that will now thrive in peace.

Settlements

* Axmouth

Axmouth

Axmouth is a village and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England, near the mouth of the River Axe. The village itself is about 1km inland, although the parish extends to the sea....

Beer
Beer, Devon

The town of Beer is in south east Devon, England, on Lyme Bay. The name is not derived from the beer but from the old Old English language word "bearu" , referring to the original forestation that surrounded the town....
Branscombe
Branscombe

Branscombe ? The Old Bakery, Manor Mill & Forge is a collection of buildings in Branscombe, Devon, Seaton, Devon, Devon, England. The property has been in the ownership of the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty since 1965....
Charlestown, Dorset
Charlestown, Dorset

Charlestown is a suburb of Weymouth, Dorset in Dorset, England, situated in the west of the town beside Chesil Beach. The town is in Chickerell parish and West Dorset district, rather than Weymouth and Portland borough....
Dawlish Warren
Dawlish Warren

Dawlish Warren is a small seaside resort near Dawlish on the south coast of Devon, England. Dawlish Warren consists almost entirely of holiday accommodation and facilities for holiday-makers, especially caravan sites....
Exmouth
Exmouth, Devon

'Exmouth' is a harbor town and seaside resort in Devon, England, at the east side of the mouth of the River Exe. It has a population of 32,972 ....
Fortuneswell -and the Isle of Portland
Isle of Portland

The Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, Dorset, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England....
Budleigh Salterton
Budleigh Salterton

Budleigh Salterton is a small town on the south coast of Devon, England approximately 15 miles south of Exeter. It is situated within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty designated East Devon AONB....
Eype
Eype

Eype is a small village in south west Dorset, England. The village is situated on the Jurassic Coast, several miles west of Bridport....
Charmouth
Charmouth

Charmouth is a village at the mouth of the River Char in West Dorset, England. The village has a population of 1,687 according to the 2001 census....
Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis

Lyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester, Dorset and east of Exeter. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border....
Otterton
Otterton

Otterton is a small village in East Devon, England.It is located to the east of the River Otter, the B3178 road and the village of East Budleigh....
Seaton
Seaton, Devon

Seaton is a seaside town in East Devon on the south coast of England.The town faces onto Lyme Bay, to the west of the mouth of the River Axe, Devon with red cliffs to one side and white cliffs on the other....
Sidmouth
Sidmouth

Sidmouth is a small town on the English Channel coast in Devon, South West England England. The town lies at the mouth of the River Sid in the East Devon district, approximately south east of Exeter....
West Bay
West Bay (England)

West Bay, formerly known as Bridport Harbour, is situated approximately two miles from the centre of Bridport on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, England....

Rivers

River Axe
River Axe, Devon

The River Axe is a river in Dorset, Somerset and Devon, in the south-west of England.It rises near Beaminster in Dorset, flows west then south by Axminster and joins the English Channel at Axmouth near Seaton, Devon....
River Exe
River Exe

The River Exe in England source near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, near the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon....
River Otter
River Otter

The River Otter rises in the Blackdown Hills just inside the county of Somerset, near Otterford, then flows south for some 32 km through East Devon to the English Channel at the western end of Lyme Bay....

Other features

Virtle Rock is an islet
Islet

File:Mokolea Rock 2.jpgAn islet is a small island....
in Poker's Pool, Lyme Bay. It is the farthest islet
Islet

File:Mokolea Rock 2.jpgAn islet is a small island....
from the coast
Coast

The coast is defined as that part of the land adjoining or near the ocean or its saltwater arms. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the process of tides....
of Poker's Pool.

External links

Devon Wildlife Trusts page about the Lyme Bay coral reefs