To remove a pebble from a beach?

[Pigeonpoodle]

I saw this on another thread… Apparently “everyone knows that’s wrong!” I’ve very occasionally taken the odd interesting pebble as a momento. AIBU to have done that… What on earth could be the problem with it? One pebble amongst billions!

There are some staggeringly uptight and miserable people on MN, so determined to be angry at life they get furious with someone taking home a solitary pebble from a beach. It’s beyond parody.

Oh dear. I took 7 pebbles off Llandudno beach in 2023. All different sizes, so I could make something like this ...

I'm really sorry. I won't do it again! 😬 I didn't know it was illegal!

I have never taken pebbles before this - or since, but I have taken a few shells.

Did you mean to name change for this?

I mean it’s a lovely beach. I’d want a reminder.

I would guess the OP meant ‘Presumably the PP…’.

Just been to my local beach & all the parking has been double yellow lined...

Thanks to all the " wild campers"... 😡

It really is..........

Yes in the 'real world' it's both as I already explained

As someone posted earlier, there are an estimated 100 billion pebbles on Brighton beach alone… constantly replenished by the sea. Do you have any idea how big that number is… on one beach…

What next, am I to be fined because I’ve got some sand between my toes?! Sand is just as much part of the beach as a pebble…

Welsh beaches are my favourite. I always book a sea view place when I go. Just so calming and peaceful and I must say the places I go not full of litter.

I suppose it's like 'what if everyone decided to take one every time they went..'

It is illegal for a reason I suppose.

From Google.

In the UK, it is generally illegal to remove pebbles, sand, or shells from public beaches under the Coastal Protection Act 1949. This law aims to prevent coastal erosion, as removing natural materials weakens sea defenses. Taking materials can result in fines of up to £1,000.

• Legal Status: Section 18 of the Coastal Protection Act 1949 makes it illegal to remove natural materials from many beaches.
• Consequences: Local councils can enforce this law, with potential fines of up to £1,000.
• Environmental Impact: Removing pebbles increases the risk of coastal erosion, as they protect the coastline.
• Context:
• While taking one or two stones is rarely prosecuted, removing large quantities or taking them from protected sites (like SSSIs) is illegal
• .
• Ownership: Most beaches in the UK are publicly owned or managed by local councils, not free for all-purpose removal.

So the upshot is, it doesn't look like taking one or two will get you into trouble, but best to leave them there I think

Sorry, I meant PP not me, the OP

See, maybe 1 person taking the odd pebble doesn't matter, but it does start to become an issue when it's 10 people, or a hundred people so it's pretty obvious why there is a blanket rule.

And besides which, this attitude of it being ok if it's just one person is just so shitty anyway. Just respect that you should leave things in nature as you find them. Is that so hard?

I LOVE Wales, and the beaches yes. 😃 Barmouth, Fairbourne, Portmadoc, Aberystwyth, Barry! So many lovely beaches..... I enjoy inland areas too (Snowdonia (Eryri,) Brecon Beacons etc, and many lovely lakes......) I am fortunate to live close to the Welsh border.

I double checked and this was on Google: "Brighton and Hove City Council conducts year-round shingle recycling, moving approximately 16,000 tonnes of pebbles annually from near the Marina to the west (towards Shoreham Port) to combat coastal erosion and flooding."

This is exactly what I understood was the case.

Of course Seaford has fewer visitors, but the purpose of moving the shingle is exactly the same as on Brighton beaches ie coastal defence, not replacing pilfered pebbles. I'm not sure why you'd not just accept that.

I think these people who are upset about one pebble being removed from a beach are the same ones who got upset when people picked an Easter egg up on the big shop during Covid. Do you remember those threads?! One pebble is hardly going to cause a fuss. Wheelbarrow loads yes. But I will not be stopping my 4 year old from bringing home a pretty shell when we are on holiday. Call the police.

Yea, but everyone doesn’t take a pebble every time, but even if they did,
it wouldn’t matter.

This ridiculous “if everyone did it logic” is a bit like saying “we shouldn’t go to the Brighton beach from London today, because if everyone went today, the 8 million of us would swamp them place!”… And we would never do anything because of the hypothetical consequences if everyone doing it.

Some MN posters really are a different breed - I don’t know anyone in real life with such a common sense bypass.

Presumably it depends on the beach, and presumably there are very many beaches where it doesn't matter at all if you take a pebble.

If there were signs saying don't, or if I had read a report suggesting it was harmful for a particular beach, then I wouldn't take a pebble from that location. In all other cases I would - if I found the right one.

Yes, I’d bet good money that the “pebble protectors” were the most ultra-strict Covid rule zealots!

Careful, pebbles are the gateway forage

This is technically illegal too though! It could be considered as an illegal waste deposit, as ridiculous as it might sound!!

The rule is presumably to stop people going down with a JCB… the amount isn’t specified as it’s easier just to have a blanket rule, as the vast majority of people apply common sense…. Apart that is from a few crazy compulsive rule abiders who have no sense of proportion.

It’s “technically” illegal to take so much as a grain of sand away from a beach. I imagine this will result in all the compulsive rule abiding crazies instigating elaborate lengthy routines when leaving the beach to ensure they’re not acting criminally by having a grain between their toes.

Yes, this exactly. The 1949 act was clearly aimed at preventing large-scale removal (eg. nicking bits of beach to build a wall made of pebbles or sell sand etc as building supplies). In the relatively few places where tourist-style removal is an issue, then councils can use the legislation to stop us taking our one or two each. But it is daft to imagine this amounts to a default wrongfulness on all beaches.
Perhaps the people who are so anxious about removal live near beaches that are massively over-touristy, or particularly vulnerable to erosion. There are loads of beaches where these problems don't exist.

I do hope everyone who saw the Welsh tourism ad about not being allowed to remove any of their mud and having bikes etc hosed down at the border knew it was a joke…
Going home with sand in your shoes or knickers is like returning from the countryside with muddy boots. Not like digging up a ton of topsoil from a field.