Fossils and Geology of Achanarras, North Scotland. Fossil Collecting&Geological Guides

Location Information
	This location has been classified as 'High' the Devonian Rocks here are highly fossiliferious and rich in fish remains, BUT sadly this site has also been over-collected. Only certain zones contain the fish. You have to now work hard and try to find slabs which have not been disturbed, I.E. ones which are covered up and hidden from the hammers.
	(Not Suitable) Achanarras is not suitable for families. The heaps of loose slate at this quarry make it a dangerous place for children, and therefore we highly recommend that children should not be taken to this location.
	Achanarras it situated in the village of Spittal, this is a small village but luckily along a main road to Thurso. The track road taking you to the quarry as signposted with a heritage symbol.
	Quarry This is a quarry location, fossils are found from the spoil heaps around this disused quarry. Permission is required to enter from Scottish Heritage.
ACCESS RIGHTS	Trespasses caught without a permit are likely and have in the past been prosecuted by Scottish Law which could result in a fine, prison, confiscation of equipment (inc vehicle), and of course the fossils. Regular checks are made at this site, so PLEASE make sure you obtain and carry your permit. You need a permit from the Scottish Natural Heritage to visit this site, send letter to: Scottish Natural Heritage Main Street Gaolspie Sutherland KW10 6TG Tel: 01408 633602

Please follow our national fossil collecting code

! IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTES !

The main danger is the deep water that has accumulated in the quarry floor, keep clear from this area and DO NOT HAMMER CLIFF FACES, split the material around the quarry floor, there is plenty to look through and split.

Other areas where you can find fossil fish

Thurso is another very good location where complete fish and fish fragments can be found. At Spital Quarry, fish fragments and complete finds can also be made. Fish can also be found at Cromarty, Tarbat Ness, John o' Groats, Queensferry, North Berwick and Eathie

Some of the best fish come from County Durham. where a number of quarries yield some of the best specimens in the UK.

Fish Remains from the Devonian can also be found at Portishead in Avon.

Of course fossil fish can be found at many locations during many periods, such as fish from the Jurassic of Dorset, Cretaceous of Norfolk, Eocene of Essex, Pleistocene Crags of Suffolk, and the Triassic beds from Aust and Blue Ancher along with many others.

Stone Tumblers (Lapidary)

Microscopes

Test Sieves for Particle Analysis

Stone Tumblers are used for tumbling and polishing rough rock, stones and pebbles including those found on the beach and glass.

Whilst collecting fossils, on those days where you come back empty handed, you could collect rocks, stones and glass from the beach and tumble then at home.

These are all high quality machines to give a professional finish to your samples. The tumblers can be used with a variety of grits, most commonly Silicon Carbide Grit and Cerium Oxide. We have a wide range of rough rocks for sale too.

Microfossils are much easier to collect because they are so small that the vast majority of collections only concentrate on large finds. These small finds can simply be found by taking small samples of sands, crags, clays and soft rocks and examining them under a microscope.

We have a wide range of microscopes for sale, both for the study of fossils, but also educational and professional for use in the laboratory. We have Stereo microscopes, Compound Microscopes, Polarising Microscopes and Monocular Microscopes.

We have thousands of Test Sieves for Particle Analysis.

Endecotts Sieves: For accurate dependable results you can't buy a better test sieve than Endecotts. At every stage of manufacture each test sieve is individually inspected.

High Precision Tecan manufactures precision apertures as small as 3 microns for a wide array of applications such as filtering, sieving and nozzles. Its high-performance, ASTM/ISO compliant test sieves satisfy the most demanding fine particle grading requirements.

Metal Detectors

Compasses

Fossils

We have a wide range of metal detectors and motion detectors.

Our metal detectors are of a very high quality and are british made by the Viking Company.

Why not take a metal detector when your fossil hunting! you never know what you may find.

We sell a wide range of compasses to both explorers, students to boat owners.

Some field compasses have build in clinometers so you can calculate the height of cliffs.

Our compasses are high quality. They are an essential part of the explorers kit.

All of our fossils are genuine and have been checked carefully, we only buy from reputable sources.

We have a wide range of fossils from low cost budget fossils to expensive stunning display pieces.

Our fossils are of a very high standard and they come from all over the world.

Fossils and Scottish Fossil Collecting in Achanarras North Scotland Geological Guide and Geology Info

Fossils and Scottish Fossil Collecting in Achanarras
North Scotland Geological Guide and Geology Info