Photography by Greta Rybus from Remodelista in Maine by Annie Quigley (Artisan Books)
Pebbles and stones may be out but there are lots of inventive ways to find a souvenir to take home from the seaside
If you’ve spent a holiday or even just an afternoon at the beach, it’s lovely to be able to take a small memento home with you. Pebbles are out of the question now but there are plenty of ways you can remember a favourite bit of coast while leaving the wild habitat as it should be.
Seaside souvenir no-nos
Sadly, but with good reason, it’s not ok to raid your local bit of coastline or holiday destination for pebbles and sand. The Coast Protection Act of 1949 made it illegal to remove natural materials such as these from any UK beach. The law is there to protect Britain’s beaches from erosion and encroachment by the sea, so it’s in all our interests to help.
Coastal takeaways that can be ok
While pebbles and sand are totally off limits, other items are ‘grey area’ and not illegal to remove. Shells should never be taken if inhabited of course, but what about empty shells? Well, they’re ok. Empty shells can still provide important habitats for seaside creatures so think carefully before you take a shell home and definitely don’t be greedy - you’re applying the same rules as foraging here - but the odd empty shell isn’t too much of an issue.
And what about driftwood? It’s ‘a natural material’; it doesn't ‘grow’ on the beach but is washed up, so you are allowed to take it away. As with shells, driftwood can be a good habitat for small sea creatures, however, so be thoughtful about what you remove. A nice, big piece of driftwood with lots of nooks and crannies might make a rather lovely community for some tiny sealife, but little stubby bits of smooth wood might not be missed so much. And again, be abstemious about what you take. One lovely piece of wood to close your hand around in your coat pocket is fine - bags of driftwood to use for craft - not so much (try Hobbycraft, please!)
But there are plenty more environmentally safe ways to bring a little of the seaside back home with you still. Here are a few ideas.
Sea-safe seaside souvenirs
Sea glass
Unlike pebbles and shells, sea glass is essentially litter. Very beautiful litter, but litter all the same, so good news - you’re fine to pick it up. It’s simply broken glass bottles, polished smooth by the sea. Sea glass is a lovely thing to collect and the green, blue, white and brown sea glass pebbles you find on most of Britain’s beaches look a bit magical stored in a glass jar on a shelf, or made into a mosaic.
Sea water
The days of filling a glass bottle with pretty sand on your seaside trip are definitely in the past, but if you’ve enjoyed a wild swim in the sea on holiday, no one will begrudge you taking a small bottle of sea water home to occasionally sniff the ozoney scent and be transported back to the days of late summer. Label your bottle and pop it in your bathroom to remind you while you take your morning shower.
Buoys
Occasionally those brightly coloured reddy-orange balls wash up, slightly broken or dented on the sea shore. They make great garden ornaments if you’re lucky enough to happen across one.
Lost metal
Taking a metal detector to the beach is a fun way to spend an afternoon. Why not make a collection in a little box of all the coins, ring pulls and other tiny scraps of metal you found and display it as a piece of art? Who knows, you may even happen across some pirate gold!
Fossils
Lots of beaches in the UK are home to amazing fossils. If you’re lucky enough to find one, do take a photo and note the location so you can tell the relevant agencies or local museum. Some areas have restrictions on fossil hunting so pay attention to signage and check local rules. In many cases, fossils belong to the landowner. But mostly, in the UK, it’s fine for amateur fossil hunters to take home the odd find. It’s not like you’ll be falling over perfectly preserved ammonites wherever you go anyway.
Actual litter
Be a beach Womble and take a bag with you so you can do your bit and collect any rubbish you find (do take gloves and be careful about what you pick up). You find all sorts of mad things left on beaches so you could make a piece of modern art from your finds. Or you could just, you know… bin it. But there’s less fun in that!
Seaweed
Beautiful in water - a little bedraggled looking when washed up on sand - seaweed can be brought back to its beautiful self by pressing it as you would press a flower. Find the instructions for making a seaweed print like the one pictured above on page 104 of our September issue.
No-trace souvenirs
If you want to leave no trace of your visit at all, modern technology allows us lots of ways to take a little of the seaside home with you while leaving no footprint. You could make a sound recording of the waves to listen to in bed at night, or take a photo of a rockpool filled with seaside treasures and blow it up into a canvas to hang on your wall. The seaside may need protecting but we can all carry a little piece of it in our hearts, after all.
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