The Phillpot Museum of Lyme Regis in Dorset is to hold a special Mary Anning Weekend on the 23 and 24th October this year. Mary Anning was, of course, the daughter of Mr Anning with whom Jane Austen had to deal when she and her family stayed in Mr Pyne’s house in Lyme in 1804: I wrote about the connection in this post linked here a few weeks ago. Mary was notable as the woman who discovered vitally important fossils on the beaches and cliffs surrounding Lyme, in the early part of the 19th century.

Other special events scheduled to take place during the weekend include a talk by the renowned naturalist, Sir David Attenborough, on the 23rd October, and a talk by Tracy Chevalier, author of the novel, Remarkable Creatures

which is a very interesting and moving fictionalised version of Mary Anning’s story, and a book I highly recommend.

Tickets for the events go on sale from the Museum and the Lyme Tourist Information Centre ( telephone number 01297 442138) on 16th August. They are bound to sell out, so do act quickly if you wish to go! I can’t make that weekend,but I’d love to be there at Lyme in the autumn , when you can really appreciate the atmosphere of the town as Jane Austen recorded it in Persuasion.