Ah, the joys of a walk on the beach...

[Creemteez]

On yesterdays five mile route-march with The Dog, I made one of the best finds of any of my "Wombling" escapades. Two and a half miles into our walk I noticed some "Things Of Interest" had been washed up by the previous tide.
On the way back, closer inspection proved them to be: One intact plastic fish box - full of sand and seaweed - but undamaged ! A rareity! One ten gallon white plastic water canister, and bestest of all, a huge half-barrel type container in green plastic with two rope handles and drainage holes in the bottom!!!
Getting it all back to the car was an interesting experince - Dog did not want to help at all - and got some VERY strange looks from other beach-walkers. I did have to drive home with my head out of the window because of the smell - But, hey! now they are cleaned up (Sand and seaweed went into composter), the possiblities seem endless.... N'yuk, N'yuk, N'yuk!!!!

[womble]

Did someone mention wombling

I wish I lived near the sea sometimes.......

[Capsid]

Did you fill them with seaweed? Makes great compost.

[Creemteez]

Did you fill them with seaweed? Makes great compost.

There was quite a bit of seaweed growing on them which I began to scrape off when I got home. Then I had a "light-bulb" moment and thought, 'Why bother - if seaweed is a compost material..." So I dumped what I had already scraped off into the composter and just gave the rest a good swooshing with the hose to get rid of any excess salt.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet. The green barrel would be great for carrots or parsnips, but I also fancy a bit of rhubarb. Any suggestions welcome!

[Norburger]

It is addictive, I haven't really wombled anything yet - but much the disgust of my tutting wife I am always on about things I see lying around.

Actually that said I did have some corrugated pipes out of a skip at work! Thinking they might make great tunnel tops with some stakes in the ground.

[Two_Sheds]

It's great that you found some use for the litter that is thrown off ships ... but it would be better if they didn't treat the sea as a big bin

[ann-the-nan]

Ah, the joys of a walk of a walk on the beach.

The only beach round here is Severn Beach.

[gojiberry]

Many many years ago I seem to remember reading that nowhere in Britain is more than 70 odd miles from the sea. Can't remember the exact figure. Having said that there are many miles of coast line that are not conducive to walking along them. As a boy I always liked a stroll along Brighton beach especially after a storm at sea.

Ian

[Scottishnewbie]

I was at our local skip yesterday and 'found' that someone had dumped literally dozens of old, broken pots in one of the skips. A quick plea to the attendance and HE, yes he jumped into the skip and collected me two huge bucketfuls of broken crocks! I do a lot of container veggies so i am absolutely delighted. Had to promise him some carrots later in the year but well worth the exchange in my view.

[Creemteez]

I was at our local skip yesterday and 'found' that someone had dumped literally dozens of old, broken pots in one of the skips. A quick plea to the attendance and HE, yes he jumped into the skip and collected me two huge bucketfuls of broken crocks! I do a lot of container veggies so i am absolutely delighted. Had to promise him some carrots later in the year but well worth the exchange in my view.

One mans rubbish is a Gardeners Treasure.
And Two Sheds, you're quite right - the amount of flotsam and jetsam seems to be on the increase. Sometimes the beach is positively green with bits of washed up fishing net. We have "Rangers" who come and scrape it all up, but the more remote beaches don't get the attention.
Still, if me dragging half a ton of discarded plastic for two miles helps any, then I'm happy to oblige - as long as I can plant me Parsnips in it!!

[Victoria26]

I live quite close to the see and never realised i could compost seaweed. Theres tons of the stuff here!!

[Flummery]

I've got 4 fish boxes in the garden, found on the East coast. One is now the chook-run dust bath! I also collect bricks from an area where wartime buildings are being washed into the sea. Some of the 'fox-proofing' is beach-found brick. You can't beat beach-combing!

[PoshCloche]

I have always wondered about collecting seaweed. Can you just go along and collect it? Assuming it is the washed up variety and not attached to something.

[snohare]

Opinions vary on whether or not you are allowed to take away loose seaweed from the shoreline.
Between the high tide mark and the low tide mark, it is a habitat for a whole ecosystem, attached or not. Remove the habitat, destroy the species, as the ecologists' mantra goes. Above the high tide mark it tends also to be an ecosystem, although on a managed beach as opposed to a sand dune system it will probably be either pretty inaccessible like below cliffs or right next to built up areas like roads etc, so effectively the ecosystem that was there is gone anyway. Personally, I wouldn't worry about a bag or two from an area next to simple grass or rock, which has no beasties living on it.
Some councils are so desperate for pristine sandy beaches and good beach awards to tempt the tourists, they basically remove everything living on the shore, in the name of tidiness, together with all the washed up plastic. (46000 pieces of plastic per square mile of sea, at the last count. ) Then they spend fortunes importing sand to replace the stuff that disappears.
So in areas where the council does "beach cleans" you will either find that they are worried about the ecosystem (which often helps hold the beaches together) and will have byelaws and goodness knows what penalties for removal of seaweed - or they will be more than delighted to let you take some away, although they may be dead worried about "health and safety" (ie you getting a vehicle stuck where it will end up drowned by the tide).
Be wary of faecal coliforms too, some areas have a lot of sewage bacteria on the beaches. Surfers Against Sewage may help you avoid bad spots.
Best to phone and find out, it's easiest !

[Demeter]

The only beach round here is Severn Beach.

Ah but think of all the nutrients in that mud!
I've got a mate who lives in Severn Beach, you can see the "sea" from his window, very nice, just don't walk past the pebbly bit