A MAMMOTH WALK

From the top of West Runton cliffs the tiny figures dotted around the sand and shingle beach below look like Victorian mussel-pickers, bent double as they scour the shoreline, hoods up against the wind. As we take the path down to the shore we realise that they are fossil-hunters. A woman straightens up as we approach and, with pride, shows us her find – a pebble clearly marked with the five-point star of a fossilised sea urchin. West Runton is one of the key stops along North Norfolk’s new Deep History Coast Discovery Trail, a 22-mile walking route that follows the coastline from Weybourne to Cart Gap.

Here, at West Runton, coastal erosion is eating away at the land. Crumbling cliffs reveal multi-hued layers