Dinosaur print uncovered in Geology Class of 1968 reunion
The Geology Class of 1968 took a field trip to the East Coast in the summer to catch up and reconnect for the first time since graduating more than 50 years ago.
The group of alumni chose to spend their weekend reunion visiting Scarborough and Whitby as alumnus and scholar Dr Mike Romano knew it to be a great destination for uncovering dinosaur footprints, something that the rest of the group wanted to see for themselves.
“While lecturing at Sheffield University in the 1980's I developed an interest in dinosaur footprints of Jurassic age and a good proportion of my research has since concentrated on these. The work on the Yorkshire coast has been successful, so much so that the part of the coast is now advertised as the Dinosaur Coast - to distinguish it from the perhaps reluctantly more famous Jurassic Coast in Dorset. So the 1968 guys wanted to see some prints for themselves.
“We spent two days in the field, one around Scarborough, the other near Whitby. The first day was spent on Burniston Beach north of Scarborough where we found a few prints and many other interesting things, stimulating good geological discussions while the non-geologists searched for more prints.
“We then had lunch on the beach before retreating from the rising tide to spend the afternoon walking along the prom in Scarborough looking at yet more rocks and footprints. The geological Rotunda Museum in Scarborough was visited by some of the party.
The next day we went to Whitby. The keen geologists did the coastal section where we found the dinosaur print (photo below) - the undoubted highlight of the day.”
The picture shows a print of Deltapodus brodricki, named by Dr Mike Romano and M.A. Whyte. It is believed that the print was made by a stegosaur and similar prints have subsequently been recognised in Spain, Portugal, America, North Africa and China.
The group rounded off their two day trip with a final meal, leaving the staff and customers entertained with a group song.
“We collectively let rip with our renditions of "Wild Rover" (of Dubliners fame) and "Leaving of Liverpool" (after first clearing it with staff and customers)! What could have been embarrassing actually went down well, not only with us but with others in the restaurant. What is that saying - 'once a student always a student'.”
If you’ve organised a reunion and have a story to tell contact the Alumni Relations team via: alumni@liverpool.ac.uk - we’d love to hear about it!