A Free event at Dinosaur Isle, Sandown - Blast from the Past 2014 on 15th & 16th November

Dinosaur Isle is hosting a free weekend on the 15th and 16th of November from 10am to 4pm for its annual Blast from the Past event.

Entry to the museum is free for the whole weekend and anyone enthusiastic about natural history, palaeontology, geology or metal detecting will find something of interest and a specialist to talk to.

Southampton and Portsmouth Universities will give demonstrations on their current research projects and you will have the rare opportunity to meet the experts, visit their stalls in the main hall of Dinosaur Isle and get up close to specimens not normally on show to the public, including some major new finds.

Palaeontologists from the Natural History Museum will exhibit some of their collection and this will be a great opportunity to bring along your fossil finds for identification from some of the most knowledgeable professionals in the country. In the evening, Dr Martin Munt and David Ward will be giving a presentation on their Explorations in Morocco.

This year, Assistant Curator of Palaeontology at Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery, Dean Lomax, will be paying a special visit to the island to sign copies of his latest book, Dinosaurs of the British Isles which features many of the island’s fossils. He will be at Dinosaur Isle both days and will be giving a talk in the evening on the diversity of Britain’s Dinosaurs.

For children, there will be dinosaur themed face painting, fossil hunting in sand and model making.

The evening event starts at 4.30pm with presentations from Dean Lomax, Dr Martin Munt and an amusing talk from Dr Jeremy Lockwood on Dinosaurs and their Bowels.

The price of the evening event is £4 and includes a light curry supper. The evening is likely to fill up quickly as the numbers are strictly limited so booking with Martin New at Dinosaur Isle is essential (Tel: 01983 404344).