What a fantastic collection to get to see and thanks for sharing it with us.
Resteemed this post, it deserves many more eyeballs.
I found a fossil of a fish about 3 inches long on a trip to Lyme Regis with my uncle when I was a kid.
My uncle kept it. He was a collector of fossils and coins.
My guess on the mystery object. Is it a Trilobite?
Thanks @molometer, for the kind words and the reblog ! it was a brilliantly illuminating morning. I found quite a few fossils in North Wales as a kid, but they were never anything exciting. When I first found an Ammonite in Dorset, I was very pleased and when I found some Dinosaur bones in Lyme Regis, I was quite taken aback. They were literally just lying there among the pebbles. I would love to find a complex creature such as a fish (there are some fish fossils in pt2 of this article).
Good guess, but no cigar (yet) ! feel free to take another though ; )
The fish was rust coloured and my uncle told me that it had turned into some kind of iron over the years. I could be remembering it wrong. It was a long time ago but it was a perfect little fish. You could even see its scales, gills and eye sockets.
I'm looking forward to your part 2.
that sounds about right ! minerals seep in and replace the bones and skin, whatever is preserved eventually turns to rock or metal. sometimes the preservation can be incredible. I heard of some Dinosaur fossils found in China which had feathers preserved, thus providing an amazing glimpse into the evolution of Avian Dinosaurs into Birds !
this little duck sized Dino had feathers like a Hummingbird