Non Fiction
Category: Memoir, Non Fiction, Places
Number of pages: 200
ISBN: 9781781727966
Publication date: March 23, 2026
Price: £14.99
“Delightfully obsessive and beautifully written.” – Lara Maiklem, author of Mudlarking
After surviving a terrifying avalanche on Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) as a young man, keen mountaineer Matthew Myerscough was forced to reevaluate his life. He returned to his childhood pastime, fossil hunting. Searching for spectacular marine reptile fossils on the beaches near his home developed into a new passion. He now has an impressive reputation amongst the fossil-hunting community and palaeontologists more widely.
Recounting his journey from novice to expert, In Search of Sea Dragons follows Matthew’s adventures at lesser-known sites in South Wales, Somerset and North Yorkshire, where he makes jaw-dropping discoveries and searches for his dream find – a complete ichthyosaur. His story is one of personal growth and maturing into adulthood, as well as a love letter to the Jurassic oceans. As his months-long search for the missing half of the ichthyosaur draws to a close, Matthew considers what’s more rewarding? The discovery or the things you find along the way.
Matthew Myerscough
Matthew Myerscough is a civil engineer and fossil hunter based in Cardiff. Over the past five years Matthew has become well-known in the fossil-hunting community for making spectacular marine reptile discoveries on the beaches near his home. With a particular passion for finding ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, Matthew enjoys exploring lesser-known fossil hunting sites and hopes to inspire others to join the search for ancient life. Some of his notable finds include a beautifully preserved ichthyosaur skull, a rare plesiosaur flipper, and the lower jaw from a large pliosaur, the first of its kind found in Wales which Matthew has donated to the National Museum Cardiff. When he’s not scouring the beaches in search of fossils, Matthew may be found playing with his young daughter or riding his bicycle. Matthew is also a qualified Mountain Leader and has survived an avalanche. In Search of Sea Dragons is his first book.
Photo by Ceri Oakes.
“…Myerscough’s book is an extraordinary read, blending meticulous research with an unexpected flair for description that naturally uplifts the text from any whiff of academic aridity… he achieves something miraculous in the mix: by harmonising a real verve for subject with the means of elucidation, this glorious amateur brings a refreshing originality to his writing, lending it a pristine newness that echoes Gavin Maxwell.”
The Yorkshire Times
“The honest and open exposition of his inner odyssey, together with his vivid descriptions of landscapes, make for an engrossing memoir. I devoured the book in a few sittings and expect that it will strongly appeal to fellow fossil hunters and, more broadly, to readers interested in palaeontological exploration.”
The Inquisitive Biologist
“Ultimately, In Search of Sea Dragons succeeds not because it teaches readers how to find ichthyosaurs and other marine reptiles, but because it captures the mentality of fossil collecting unusually well. Beneath the searches for marine reptile bones lies a thoughtful and often very human account of how people become absorbed by landscapes, discoveries and the possibility of uncovering something extraordinary. The fossils themselves matter, but so too do the friendships formed along the way, the excitement of shared expeditions and the sense of purpose that collecting can provide… Myerscough’s great achievement is therefore not simply to document the search for sea dragons, but to convey why people search for fossils at all. In doing so, he has produced a book that is at once autobiographical, thoughtful and quietly revealing about the wider culture of amateur fossil collecting in Britain today.”
Jon Trevelyan, Deposits
“…an impressive and heartfelt debut. It successfully blends personal storytelling with a fascination for the Earth sciences. In addition, it celebrates the joy and wonder of discovery… Whether you are new to fossil collecting or highly experienced, this book offers something valuable. It inspires curiosity and encourages exploration of the natural world. Above all, it highlights the positive impact that a shared passion can have.”
Mike Walley, Everything Dinosaur
“In Search of Sea Dragons is a lovely book, containing the willpower of a long journey in the well-realised telling of a lifetime as a passionate fossil hunter. Matthew gifts the reader his clearsighted positioning in time and space; both of humanity’s pinpoint existence in the great arc of planetary life, and of his own mindfulness while stalking the rocks, carving out inner peace from the busy whirl of his mental chatter.”
Ursula Martin, author of ‘One Woman Walks Europe’
Steve Brusatte, author of ‘The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs’
Lara Maiklem, author of ‘Mudlarking’
“enthralling… such a well written tale of exploration and personal journey that I couldn’t put it down.”
Cindy Howells, Palaeontology Curator for Amgueddfa Cymru
“A deeply admirable act of modern exploration – a patient, muddy, tide-watching commitment to paying attention to one stretch of coast until it gives up its ancient secrets, reminding us that real adventure still begins close to home.”
Alastair Humphreys
