To take pebbles from the beach?

[DarylDixonsHair]

Is it allowed? I'd like to put some borders around my flowers beds so need about 20 - 30 medium sized ones. I wouldn't take them all in one go, probably a handful at a time while dog walking.

Just wanted to check I'm not breaking the law/endangering the planet/taking the piss.

Hold on we bring half the fucking beach home with us. Sand everywhere, in theory sand is partially decayed and eroded shells and stones and glass. So I am stealing because it gets in everything.

at first I thought you were being unreasonable but then I thought harder

everyone does do it! Big fat companies steal the pebbles from natural places and sell them
they also steal peat from marshes and sell compost
they steal sand for the same reasons.
metal
chalk
salt
clay

take the pebbles if you're going to buy them anyway, that way you get the pebbles and dirty horrible companies don't get paid to destroy the planet this time.

fucking unbelievable.

if you can though, go to a couple of beaches and do it over a period of time, like don't hire a truck

@OhhCarolina

Why is it different getting them from garden centres? Don't they themselves get them from beaches, the coastal eroding bastards?

No.

You know how a couple of years ago everyone was super casual about balloon releases and helium and plastic straws and cotton buds and those lanterns that float in the sky with a wee light and flushing tampons and a million other tiny little things that fuck up the planet? And then public opinion changed to ‘actually, we can do without these things for the good of the planet’?

This is like those, only it seems people haven’t cottoned on yet. It’s a tiny little thing - leave stuff alone. Leave it alone. Your wants don’t trump the planet’s needs. That’s the bottom line. Leave it in peace.

The same way you teach your kids not to litter, not to take birds nests, not to disturb bees, not to stamp on snails - teach them about the importance of looking after the beaches. That’s it! So simple!

at first I thought you were being unreasonable but then I thought harder

Did you think as far as the "it's illegal" bit?

Where do the garden centres get beach pebbles from?!?!

Just joining the chorus saying it’s illegal!

It's shellfish! Pure shellfish!

@picklemewalnuts

It's shellfish! Pure shellfish!

😂😂😂😂

ok, I'll be sure to turn myself in to the police, along with my 7 year old, for theft of shells from the beach last week. This is peak Mumsnet madness. Get a life

Get a grip. The police don't care, and no-one will prosecute you. But thats not the point, is it? Normal people don't do illegal, bad things, not because they are afraid of getting caught, but because they know they are wrong.
Now, you're too thick to understand why taking pebbles from beaches is wrong, clearly. Maybe ask your 7 year old to read up on it and explain it to you?

If it was left to my daughter, we would of had a seal Coming home with her shells

@hetanom

Not many people know this but most global deforestation is caused by dogs and children taking sticks home with them.

Thank you Pumperthepumper 🙏

#prayforpebble

Garden centres create genetically modified pebbles in massive secret warehouses in Lincolnshire.

@picklemewalnuts

It's shellfish! Pure shellfish!

You would have to have a heart of stone or granite like composure not to laugh at this

Increased risk of flooding, irrepareable coastal erosion, and the destruction of natural resources.

SO funny.

Can anybody tell me please, would Statute of Limitations apply here?

Just thinking about Stonehenge. Those bastard fucking druids. Destroying the Preseli Hills. Dragging those stones across the valleys, then just abandoning them in a heap on Salisbury Plain. Leaving broken chariot wheels in gateways on their way. Littering the forests with mead bottles and used goatskin condoms. You can even see Avebury from space.

As for Hadrian, well what a fuckwit he was. Didn't get planning consent did he? Just built a wall, higher than two metres, right across an AONB. Bastard.

Cleopatra.......selfish bitch....blah...blah....

Don't forget the pyramids. Pebble theft on a grand scale.

@GoJoe2020

Increased risk of flooding, irrepareable coastal erosion, and the destruction of natural resources.

SO funny.

I think you're just overreacting a bit. Coastal erosion is a serious problem and costs us millions every year. The main human causes are climate change and rising sea levels (indirect but still a human cause really), coastal structures such as ports, jetties, etc. and reduced sand supply caused by inland human activities such as dams and other river structures. These absolutely are things we need to combat. Someone taking a bag of pebbles from the beach, or the odd dog-walker or child taking some driftwood or rocks, is not a major concern, in my humble opinion.

@Tessiot

Can anybody tell me please, would Statute of Limitations apply here?

Just thinking about Stonehenge. Those bastard fucking druids. Destroying the Preseli Hills. Dragging those stones across the valleys, then just abandoning them in a heap on Salisbury Plain. Leaving broken chariot wheels in gateways on their way. Littering the forests with mead bottles and used goatskin condoms. You can even see Avebury from space.

As for Hadrian, well what a fuckwit he was. Didn't get planning consent did he? Just built a wall, higher than two metres, right across an AONB. Bastard.

Cleopatra.......selfish bitch....blah...blah....

Before we knew better, you mean? Or should we all just think fuck it and start making sculptures out of the polar ice caps?

@Tessiot - no , the Statute of Limitations would not apply here (being a US job) but the Limitation Act might

Though some crimes are so heinous (like pebble pilfering, stone stealing) that they should be no time limit on prosecution

Wow, this thread!
People have taken small mementos and interesting things since forever. At least modern people aren't hacking 5 tonne stones out of the ground and dragging them miles and miles away to balance on top of each other in a gigantic landmark of greed and destruction, eh?

Obviously don't go and take a load of stones from somewhere to pebble your driveway, but taking a few empty shells and a shiny pebble to remind you of a special holiday isn't going to add to coastal erosion, even if every single person in the country took one from their nearest beach.

It might be against the law, but it seems the pettiest, most ridiculous thing to argue over. Better to save anger for massive companies scooping up sackfuls of the stuff to sell to the same people you're telling off for enjoying the feel of a piece of driftwood in their hand on the rare occasion they can get to the seaside once a year.

Well I have five pebbles on display, three from Greece, 2 from my coastal birth town in Spain...oh!!!