Collecting on the beach

Maggie Hambling's 15ft high scallop sculpture at Aldburgh. CC image by CMGlee

 I have a lovely book called 'The Essential Guide to Beachcombing and the Strandline' by Steve Trewhella and Julie Hatcher. It has everything you can think of that you might find on a walk on the beach, from seashells and seaweed to fishing litter and nurdles. It doesn't mention the legal implications of beachcombing at all, which is a) a bit surprising but b) probably entirely sensible given the complications.

'Edible Seashore' by John Wright tries to lay out the situation for foragers. He says "a tender belief lodged firmly in the bosom of most people in these islands is that they have a legal right to walk along any shore that does not sport a 'private, keep out' sign. Sadly, they are wrong. There is no general right of access to the coast and the shore is not some briny species of common land."

Precisely who owns a 'beach' (the bit above the high tide mark) is not always obvious. You'll probably want to get across that to the 'foreshore' (which is the bit between the low and high tide mark). Half of that's owned by the Crown and the rest is divvied up between local authorities, the National Trust, and various other individuals and organisations. Realistically, as long as you stay out of places with big 'No Trespassing' signs, you probably won't get into any altercations. If you can work out that the National Trust (for example) does own the bit of shore you're after, then it would be nice to seek their permission to do your collecting there. This would be especially important if your beach is a nature reserve or SSSI. They might be encouraging even so, so don't be afraid to ask (just ring up or ping them an email to explain your very low-impact and scientific intentions). They may even be interested in a list of what you find.


Rules about foraging relate mainly to just wild fruit, fungi, flowers and foliage. The 'Four Fs' have to be growing wild, and be for personal use only (you can't sell them, or it becomes theft). So if you're collecting empty shells, then you'd imagine this is of little interest to the law (gathering live shellfish to eat or sell would be a different issue). Seaweed doesn't start with an F either, and no general right to gather seaweed exists. But again, if you're not taking wheelbarrowfuls to sell, and you're not trespassing, you shouldn't get into any bother.

This article and its comments on the subject in the Guardian are quite interesting.

In short, seek permission where you can, and obey any local rules.

And if you take some litter home with you while you're at it, then you'll have positively improved the environment!

An early specimen of the Asteraceae

Where I parked up at a petrol station last night, there was a huge array of these bright yellow flowers along the fence in front of me. I suppose most people might call them 'dandelions' if they even noticed them at all. But I was very chuffed to see them, because they're another sign of spring. They're Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara).

They look rather unusual because at this time of the year they don't have any big basal leaves (those have died off during the winter). So you just see these rather thick woolly shoots with their tiny reddish... well, perhaps 'leaves' pressed close up them, but they look more like the sepals protecting the back of the flowers. The flowers are typically Asteraceae-ish, with thin flat petals around the edge and many tiny florets in the centre.

Tussilago derives from 'to cough', in Latin. And you might recognise this plant from bottles of cough mixture - it's used in traditional remedies around the world. Culpeper's Herbal (from the 1650s) mentions it, and also calls it foals-foot, horse-hoof and bulls-foot. Perhaps that's to do with the vaguely hoofish shape of the leaves. Or perhaps it's supposed to grow where hoofy animals have trod, who knows.

from Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen

Another interesting Coltsfoot feature can be examined by seizing your handlens. In good light you will see tiny 'glandular trichomes' on the stem. These are like little hairs with a bulb on the end, and they produce chemicals that probably put off herbivores that would like to take advantage of the plant as an early spring snack. Other Asteraceae also feature trichomes.

If anyone started collecting this family last autumn, Coltsfoot would be a nice addition. The flowers' bright colour should draw your eye. It tends to like hedgerows and roadsides and disturbed habitats. Wherever there's one plant there'll generally be many, because it spreads by underground rhizomes.

Encouragement for last minute collectors

A weird Peltigera (dog lichen) similar to some I found last weekend. CC Ryane Snow

 It's not quite the last minute. You still have a couple of weeks. I'm not being funny, it is entirely the case that you could yet achieve good things with this assignment. You just need to pick something that interests you, and make time to find some specimens, scribble about them in your notebook, identify them, display them, and write a little monograph about them. Not as easy as if you'd started a while back. But much more satisfying than trying to write a last minute essay. And easier to figure out what you have to do to get a good mark, by all accounts.

Today I helped a freshly minted lichenologist. She'd brought in a couple of species on a twig. We went for a little walk in the sunshine and quickly found a few more.

Recognising them is one thing, you might say, but identifying them is another. Ah, but the happy thing about lichens (and many other groups of organisms) is that certain species tend to be found in certain habitats. Before she arrived I took a bit of time to mug up the species on the FSC's Key to Lichens on Twigs. I was aghast to find that I didn't recognise half of them very well. I realised this is because I spend too much of my time breathing city air where most lichens aren't tough enough to live. I might be getting away with an air of knowledgeability because certain species keep turning up locally.

But this is a good thing - for you - because many of the species you find will be from a limited pool. Don't be put off by the overwhelming number that exist across the country.

Lecidella elaeochroma, one of today's haul. Note the black margins where the lichens fight for space. CC image Jymm.

In addition to the FSC key, you can use Nimis, Wolseley and Martellos's 'Key to common lichens on trees in England' (I've printed some off if you want to borrow a paper copy). It seemed to be quite user-friendly when we were using it this afternoon. It's a dichotomous key, which you might want to show markers you can use in addition to the parallel key on the FSC guide.

I always recommend Alan Silverside's lichen site for reliable pictures and descriptions, and you can also see photos on the British Lichens website.

You want to arrange your species so they're in taxonomic groups - you can check that with the database on the Natural History Museum website.

We have an amazing new Leica microscope with camera here, and I would very much like to make some useful guides to local common species to help students in future. I waved off the Madagascar field trippers today (with the 27 crates I'd packed... byeeee) so one can only hope for some downtime. Hah, unlikely. But I am more than happy to help any of you with your last minute taxonomic anguish. Please do come and see me.