Purbeck Ice Cream and the Jurassic Coast Trust have teamed up to inspire families with one of Dorset’s most fascinating paleontological sites, the Dinosaur Footprints of Keates Quarry. Proceeds from sales of Purbeck Ice Cream’s Jurassic Range have sponsored free places for 100 children across 10 guided walks in 2019 to the footprints, which are located in the Purbeck village of Worth Matravers.
Anjana Khatwa from the JCT with daughter Sarita at Keates Quarry
Since launching the Jurassic Range in late 2017, Purbeck Ice Cream have raised over £2,000 in donations to the Jurassic Coast Trust. In addition to sponsoring the dinosaur footprints walks, these donations are vital in enabling the Jurassic Coast Trust to protect the coast, ensuring that it retains its UNESCO World Heritage Site status.
The Trust’s guided walks are all led by “Jurassic Coast Ambassadors”, local people with a passion for the Jurassic Coast who give their time voluntarily to help people understand more about the World Heritage Site. Over 240 people have attended this year’s walks, and comments from attendees include:
“I just wanted to say how brilliant the walk was, and that Jurassic Coast Ambassador Julian was such a great guide. He had a lovely friendly manner, clearly extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and so patient answering the children’s questions.” – Louise Osborne
“We travelled 3.5 hours to Dorset to see the footprints. On our walk the lady from Purbeck Ice Cream met us. I had a vanilla bean with a chocolate dinosaur, it was delicious!” – Danny, aged 9 from Worcestershire
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- Ambassador Julian Sawyer leads a walk to the footprints in the rain
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- The Dinosaur Tracks sign approaching the Spyway Dinosaur Footprints.
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- Girls exploring Keates Quarry
The walks start at the famous Square and Compass pub in Worth Matravers, and involve a gentle walk across Purbeck’s rolling hills before arriving at Keates Quarry. Here, over 100 dinosaur footprints have been preserved in rock. Scientists believe they were made by giant plant-eating sauropods during the late Jurassic period, 145 million years ago. Easily accessible and providing comfortable walking terrain, the footprints have proved to be a big hit with dinosaur fans of all ages. The site is owned and managed by the National Trust.
Interpretation panel at Keates Quarry’s Dinosaur Footprints site.
Guy Kerr of the Jurassic Coast Trust said of the collaboration, “We are absolutely delighted to have collaborated with Purbeck Ice Cream on this year’s dinosaur footprints walks, and are thrilled that they have been so popular with the general public. Keates Quarry gives visitors an opportunity to travel back through million of years of time, and we love sharing its stories with people through our amazing local Ambassadors.”
Donna White of Purbeck Ice Cream said, “We are pleased to have sponsored this year’s dinosaur footprints walks and to have enabled 100 children to explore Keates Quarry. At Purbeck Ice Cream we believe it’s important to give something back to help protect our local environment, and to inspire people to understand it better and to look after it. Keates Quarry is located less than a mile from the farm where we make our ice cream, so this collaboration is very close to our hearts.”
Purbeck Ice Cream’s Skull Diggery, part of the Jurassic Range.
Purbeck Ice Cream’s Jurassic Range includes Dig-A-Saurus, Ammonite Bites, Purbeck Rocks, and Skull-Diggery. The range is available through numerous local outlets as well as at events across Dorset and beyond, including the Chelsea Flower Show.
The Jurassic Coast Trust’s last Keates Quarry walk of 2019 takes place on Wednesday 30 October. Tickets are £6 for adults and free for children, and can be booked at our online shop.
