Beachcombing

 

The Pocket Oxford defines a beachcomber as ‘a vagrant living by the beach’ but in practice the fascination of beachcombing is open to wider categories than ‘vagrants: persons without settled home or regular work’.     Although, come to think of it, the description of ‘without regular work’ does of course include most retirees!

In the days before container ships ruled the waves, beachcombing yielded a fascinating haul of bits of rope and driftwood which you could take home and recycle into all sorts of useful and artistic things. I built a bed for our seaside cottage out of driftwood, but it drifted apart during the night and ended up as a saw horse.   

Now that container ships have reduced the amount of flotsam and jetsam, beachcombing is more about studying the natural life found on the beach, which changes with every tide.

 

See:

 

http://www.open2.net/coast/beachcombing.html     a comprehensive introduction to beachcombing

 

http://www.glaucus.org.uk/hightide.htm British marine life study society

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/south/series6/beachcombing.shtml the BBC combs the beaches

 

http://www.beach-net.com/Oceanshellslist.html beachcomber’s checklist