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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To take pebbles from the beach?

353 replies

DarylDixonsHair · 25/05/2020 15:02

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.

OP posts:
PineappleUpsideDownCake · 25/05/2020 15:20

Nope I wouldn't. The range do a nice bag.

Destroyedpeople · 25/05/2020 15:21

I really don't think taking a few pebbles is going to cause ' coastal erosion'...
Op you can get bags of pebbles for garden in wilko I think.

TwoleftUggs · 25/05/2020 15:22

It’s illegal. I found this out whilst on holiday at Christmas when I got stopped by a council worker who was emptying bins on the promenade he’d obviously watched me putting them in my bag whilst he worked Blush Anyway i just put them back and that was that, but I had no idea and I was really embarrassed!

sirfredfredgeorge · 25/05/2020 15:22

Why wouldn’t you? How would the rule be enforced? What punishment would you receive?

The Police in such areas police it not surprisingly, it's not the one or two sea shells or rocks, it's the big bags of them that get caught. And the real enforcement of course is against the people take lots and lots at night, caught quite often in many beaches as there's often not a lot to do at night in sleepy beach towns for the police but to watch the sea.

MuthaClucker · 25/05/2020 15:23

Anyone else now singing the Paul Weller song?

DysonFury · 25/05/2020 15:24

Theft Grin. Go for it OP!

LST · 25/05/2020 15:24

I'll have to inform the DC they will be spending the rest of lockdown behind bars!

MuthaClucker · 25/05/2020 15:24

Caught beachlifting, the shame of it!

VenusTiger · 25/05/2020 15:25

@Obviouspretzel 🤣 yup! I think the DC rule followers are spilling onto this thread, god forbid! I must tell my little boy he's a rule breaker for he has a basket filled with stones from wherever he finds them, some from a beach in France and Ireland - oh no!

IhateBoswell · 25/05/2020 15:27

Anyone else now singing the Paul Weller song?

Yep, and envisioning OP being rugby tackled by angry locals.

WhoWouldHaveThoughtThat · 25/05/2020 15:28

Oh no I've been to the beach and come home and found sand in my shoes. Should I have to taken it back? Will the Queen find? Confused

whiplashy · 25/05/2020 15:31

Yabu. Buy them like everyone else has to

dottiedodah · 25/05/2020 15:34

I think 20 or 30 pebbles in one go is a bit much TBH! Maybe the local GC would be worth a trip! One or two OK 10 or 20 noooo!

Footywife · 25/05/2020 15:34

Good grief. There are some really dramatic responses on here aren't there.

Just do it. Nobody will know and nobody is going to tackle you to the ground. Its a few stones ffs.

And before everyone starts with the 'imagine if we all did it'.....everyone isn't going to do it!

ClassicCola · 25/05/2020 15:36

I have a few interesting pebbles taken from beaches, doesn't everyone? The kids used to always collect pebbles and shells.

Shall I turn myself in?

terrelontane · 25/05/2020 15:37

So where do the garden centres get them from...do they breed them?

daisypond · 25/05/2020 15:40

“Removing any natural material - including sand and pebbles - from public beaches in the UK is illegal under the Coastal Protection Act 1949. It up to local councils to enforce the law, and offenders can be fined up to £1,000.“

PotholeParadise · 25/05/2020 15:42

terrelontane

Seabed excavation, IIRC. Not from our coasts, and certains not from beaches threatened by coastal erosion.

GinnyStrupac · 25/05/2020 15:43

Take nothing, except your litter, photos and memories. Leave nothing, except your footprints.

Some beaches now have 'no take' policies and signs. It's not allowed, like picking wildflowers.

One small pebble or small shell as a memento, ok, but enough for your landscape gardening?! Very selfish.

GinnyStrupac · 25/05/2020 15:45

Oh, and take your dog poo and broken dog toys too.

FOJN · 25/05/2020 15:45

terrelontane
No, I think mine were described as river stones so I assume that's where they came from. They're as smooth and rounded as beach pebbles and look nice as a dressing on large container plants.

MidsummerMurder · 25/05/2020 15:47

No one minds a pebble or a shell from a beach that’s not a SSI, and yes, most of us have got a few bits dotted around as memories, but you are considering much more.
Garden centre.

Celeriacacaca · 25/05/2020 15:48

Where do you think garden centres and the shops mentioned get them from?

You're ok OP to take the stones.

GinnyStrupac · 25/05/2020 15:54

National Park - we also have visitors taking bits of stone wall for their gardens and rockeries. Some think it's ok but even the stones scattered about from broken down walls are needed to repair them and provide wildlife habitat. They don't belong to you, they belong to everyone, or a farmer, National Trust or landowner - so it is theft and a nuisance.