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.

Oh this thread is good I remember it from the first time around

MN at its best

And this shows how kids are being raised these days: no one gives a shit about anything, joe public knows better than anyone else, rules don't apply to them, and who cares what the rules are if you can get away with it.

This thread summarises the attitude towards the lockdown superbly.

Just had the same thought myself.

Please don't - If lots of people do the same thing - they used to before council areas said don't - it has a detrimental effect. Some areas call it stealing and have signs up to say so.

Buy them from the garden centre

No - this is stealing

@Selfisolation2020 You'll burn in hell, you do know that don't you 😏

@chickenyhead

OMG I am a THEIF

Wow

Well now I know.

What if I take the pebble to the beach, can I take it away again? What if I swap my ugly pebbles for less ugly ones?

Why isn't this more widely known!

I guess in some areas they may say you are a 'thief' that likes to be thought of as a joker.

It’s not allowed but I do it anyway 😬

Some people might TAKE stones from their garden TO the park

Does anyone know anyone who takes stones from their gardens to the park, or the beach for that matter? Or is this one of those bizarre MN fictions?

My son loves picking a couple of pebbles from the beach, usually 2 or 3. But for garden work I would rather buy a bag from the local garden centre.

I suspect it's one of those things that, sooner or later, has to give way in an increasing population because it starts to cause real damage in a way that didn't happen when there were fewer of us.

Take a look at the 'Public Lands Hate You' photos to see how people searching for insta photos of nature can cause all sorts of damage, even though they they tend to be just doing things that would be fine if fewer people did them.

Is taking pebbles from a beach the crime of the century? I don't think so. Is it slightly better not to and to leave them there? Almost certainly they will do more good left on the beach than moved to a garden.

Just seen this again-rockpiling!.

Even picking up a pebble and skimming it into the sea is beach murder.

Won't someone think of the pebbles

I get mines from the river :) I live in the Scottish hills so place is littered with rocks and stones. If I put the ragged ones I dig up from the garden in the river does it make it ok?

I thought that stones originated in the earth and when the sea erodes cliffs etc. they end up as pebbles on the beach and in the sea.

So it seems a bit rich that the Queen says they all belong to her now. If she's wants them that much perhaps she'll send the Royal Pebble Secretary round and sieve my garden. Actually I'd appreciate that.

Presumably those pebbles on USA's coastline belong to Trump - for the moment?

I thought that stones originated in the earth and when the sea erodes cliffs etc. they end up as pebbles on the beach and in the sea.

So does the soil and plants in your gardens, but you wouldn't want strangers wandering in and taking it.

Had you asked about taking a pebble I’d have thought that ok. But to ask about taking enough to line borders and flower beds makes you a CF.

You can buy bags of pebbles, cobbles etc. Put your hands in your pockets op.

I'd be interested to know whether the majority of "Don't do it" people live near the coast, and the "Take pebbles" lot don't.

Every year the council and the environment agency are at the beaches around the country before and after winter storms reinforcing them to save people and property and often paying thousands to ship in stones and pebbles from abroad. Longshore drift, climate change causing sea level rises and storms and tides causing natural coastal erosion threaten our beaches and make them smaller every year. People taking stones away are speeding those processes up and making erosion and encroachment by the sea worse little by little too. The sea defences and shingle beaches in the UK form wildlife habitats and stand between the sea and nearby houses and towns, people who take stones away from the beach aren't acting with consideration to the wider issues that affect all of us.

This article explains some of the problems quite well. Not all places on the coast will have the stock of pebbles replenished by the tide and therefore will eventually be underprotected.

Take a few of them and when you have finished enjoying them in your garden return them to the shore.

@Mummydaydreams

Every year the council and the environment agency are at the beaches around the country before and after winter storms reinforcing them to save people and property and often paying thousands to ship in stones and pebbles from abroad. Longshore drift, climate change causing sea level rises and storms and tides causing natural coastal erosion threaten our beaches and make them smaller every year. People taking stones away are speeding those processes up and making erosion and encroachment by the sea worse little by little too. The sea defences and shingle beaches in the UK form wildlife habitats and stand between the sea and nearby houses and towns, people who take stones away from the beach aren't acting with consideration to the wider issues that affect all of us.

Exactly this, I’m gobsmacked at how ignorant people in Britain are about coastal erosion when it’s such a massive part of our island.

@Littlepiggiesinblankets
From your cited article:
“Every year when the weather warms up, people start taking pebbles. It’s not an odd one or two, it’s often industrial quantities.
Frequently, visitors to the beach are equipped with buckets and strong bags. Sometimes they’re in vans or with trailers, to take pebbles away in quite large volumes. It’s not a question of being small minded and worrying about a few pebbles. What would happen if everyone who came to this popular spot did the same thing? If everyone thought it’s OK to fill their car boot to the point that the axle is ready for breaking, there would be no pebbles left – and a lot of homes could be put at risk.”

So really it’s not children taking half a dozen pebbles every few years that’s the problem really, - people taking the piss and taking 100s or 1000s in one go.

@womaninatightspot

I get mines from the river :) I live in the Scottish hills so place is littered with rocks and stones. If I put the ragged ones I dig up from the garden in the river does it make it ok?

No, because chances are it’s not the same kind of stone and will have different ecosystems reliant on it.

imagine if everyone did this ....

😂 Why would everyone do this? Most people don't need pebbles.