I got a load of cockles in shells from the fish monger today. All the recipes I've looked at go on about soaking and rinsing to try to get some of the sand out. I found a great looking Spanish recipe that involved putting the cockles in salty water so they would open up a bit and any more sand could come out. So they're sitting in a big pan of salt water the crazy freaks are opening and shutting and sticking their crazy 'legs' out . I know they're alive and accept that but it is really freaky to actually see them moving. Dd is getting rather attached to the big boy of the gang who is really moving loads - hope she likes him as much when he's served with garlic and cream later on...