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Footsteps Through Time: The Journey That Inspired the Savage Lands
- Thistle and Bard
- Apr 9
- 2 min read
Dinosaurs. Is there a more magical word in the children's playbook? I don't think so!
You're never too old to experience the wonder of those massive lizards that dominated the world more than 65,000,000,000 years ago. The evidence of their existence is where the idea of the Savage Lands starts. Our journey began two years ago in a deserted quarry.
THE JURASSIC COAST
In 2023, I took a trip with my child to the Jurassic Coast - one of those days where the time slows down, the sea feels like magic, and you suddenly remember how vast the world really is. The summer was furnace hot (approaching 30 degrees C, which in UK terms is practically hell), but for two weeks we were on a mission to find dinosaurs. Not domesticated dinosaurs in a museum, bathing in the cool air-conditioning - because, that would have been too sensible! Actual evidence of that dinosaurs had once been here on this exact spot in the wild.
Now, the truth is that while fossil remains are actually surprisingly easy to find in the UK (Mainly Ichthyasaurs - that's the dolphin-looking ones) and there is plenty of advertisement for small museum collections up and down the south coast, wild dinosaur fossils like the fossil coast (where there are track marks up the cliffs) are actually almost impossible to see due to the dangers of coastal erosion - well, almost! Because there is one place where you can see giant fossils in the ground, you can even sit in them. A little-known place to anyone but true dinosaur lovers, a place called Keats Quarry.
THE REAL SAVAGE LANDS
A 35-minute trek along a rocky path with nothing by scrubland and, further away, the sea, we found them: fossilized footprints of some of the biggest dinosaurs ever to have roamed the Earth, Brachiosaurus. 36 million years ago at the peak of the Dinosaur Era, two adults and a juvenile walked side by side. I stood there with my child, looking at those ancient tracks, and feeling like we'd stumbled into a story millions of years in the making.
It was more than just a moment - it was a spark.
A SPARK OF MAGIC
That sense of awe, of standing in a world that existed before us, is what I wanted to capture when I designed the Savage Lands Collection. Not just dinosaurs, but an entire forgotten realm full of lava flows, meteor trails, and the echo of something primal and beautiful.
This range is rooted in that memory, but also in the joy of sharing it. Watching my child imagine the story behind those footprints, standing in the steps of these iconic prehistoric creatures, helped shape the tone, colours, and energy of everything in the Savage Lands.
So, if you find yourself holding one of the notepads, stickers, or pins from the range, know that it's more than just a great design - it's a piece of the world, and a treasured moment between a mum and her child.
And now, it's yours to adventure with.
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