ENGLAND // First came the skull, a strange,  slender thing, over 1m long, found by Joseph  Anning in 1811. Then his sister Mary found the  rest: the skeleton of a great creature from  the sea. It was the first complete ichthyosaur  to be found, and it turned our understanding  of the past on its head.  Discoveries - of ichthyosaurs, dinosaurs  and more - kept coming. This is the Jurassic  Coast, stretching from Swanage in Dorset    to Exmouth in Devon, its unique jumble of  clay, limestone and sandstone covering 185  million years of history in 150km (95 miles).  Its geology makes this World Heritage site a  particularly fine place to uncover fossils - and  one of Britain's most beautiful spots. At Durdle  Door a grand arch dips into the sea, Chesil  Beach is a vast stretch of shingle, Lyme Regis  has steep, fossil-packed cliffs, and Burton  Bradstock gorgeous sands backed by rock.    This land of spits, stacks, beaches and  frothy ale is ripe for adventure, and stars in  everything from smugglers' yarns to Jane  Austen. You can swim, kayak, surf or hike  coastal trails - or make like the Annings and  fossick for glimpses of long-lost worlds.