Beach Treasures 2: Grading beach/sea glass

Grading glass

Sea glass is graded according to its smoothness and shape.

Grades range from A, best, to D. Grade A is the hardest to find, D is the most plentiful (after glass which is freshly broken or really hasn’t had long enough and should be tossed back in the water to get some more tumbling!)

Grade A is ‘jewellery grade’. The piece is thoroughly frosted and has thoroughly rounded edges, with no nicks or broken edges, and the size and shape is suitable for jewellery. Even with a large collection of grade A pieces, it is very unlikely than any two will be a perfectly matching pair.

Grade B is quite well frosted and rounded, but with more defined edges and there may be one or more visible defects. It might still be usable for jewellery, if the defect is hidden by the mount or wire-wrap. The shapes may be more lumpy or uneven. Sometimes, that can work in its favour; you may find pieces which are like triangles, arrowheads or hearts.

Grade C is usually thought of as the better ‘craft’ grade. Pieces are quite evenly frosted, may have chips or defects on both sides, distinctly angular edges and one edge may be rough or cracked. Pieces may not be flat. Note that the grooves on the neck of a bottle are considered defects, and the curve of the bottle neck would put a piece in this grade. That said, I think the grooves and slight curve can make a very interesting, usable and wearable piece. You can also make ‘defects’ such as raised letters work in your favour.

Grade D is a lower craft grade, but it is still good for craft projects such as mosaics, pictures, light-catchers and simply filling a vase or jar so that the light shines through it. It may not be as frosted, it has chips, defects, rough, shiny or sharp (broken) edges. This grade includes larger pieces which may also be a strange shape. Pieces with an edge sharp enough to cut should only be used in something like a mosaic, where the sharp edges can be embedded in grout and do no damage.

Beach Treasures: Water-worn glass, pottery, stones and shells

As my printer continues to be temperamental (especially when I need to print something for my upcoming workshop!), I decided to publish my workshop notes on my blog.

Introduction

What is sea or beach glass? It’s glass which has been worn by wave action against sand and rocks until it becomes smooth and has a frosted, semi-opaque finish. It’s usually called sea glass when it’s found on beaches open to the sea and having been worn smooth in salt water, and beach glass when washed up on estuary or lakeside beaches, with fresh water. Beach glass may be less opaque, but there is no real difference.

Although these notes are about sea or beach glass, they apply to other beachcombed bits too. Broken pottery becomes worn in the same way and can also be wire wrapped, as can seashells, stones, driftwood and other weathered items such as pieces of clay pipe stem or glass bottle tops.

‘Artificial’ sea glass can be created by tumbling broken glass until smooth and is sometimes passed off as the more expensive ‘genuine’ sea glass. However, it may be less random and a better grade than what’s available on your local beach. It can also be created by using a glass etching paste on beads or glass cabochons, which contains a mild acid which is still strong enough to etch glass (and burn skin).

Some pieces of natural sea and beach glass have been 200 years in the making, and very occasionally, may be older than 1800. Some pieces may have features (e.g. the shape of the tops and bottoms, writing or makers’ marks) which help to date them and identify what type of bottle it comes from.

Collecting sea glass, pottery and shells

Health, safety and ecological considerations

Beachcombing can be absorbing, so stay aware and take care!

o       Check the tide times and be careful not to get cut-off.

o       Be careful of streams and storm outlets, there may be patches of quicksand.

o       Glass may still have sharp edges. Be careful of your hands and fingers. Anything recently broken which could cut feet should be buried under pebbles, or tossed back out to sea.

o       Be careful where you tread; weed-covered rocks can be slippery, and barnacles can leave a nasty graze. Try to avoid treading on living creatures.

o       Glass with organisms attached (eg anemones, shells); leave it where it is, or if sharp, place under a ledge in a tidal rock pool, or gently toss back into the water.

o       Don’t touch jellyfish; even stranded, their tentacles could still sting.

o       Apparently empty shells may still have a resident, such as a hermit crab. You can check by placing them on damp sand or in a pool, and being still and quiet for a minute or two, they will often come out to see if the coast is clear.

Occasionally, the sea may erode an old rubbish or glass factory dump and copious amounts of glass end up being washed out (as at Seaham in Northumberland). Supplies around the Pembrokeshire coast largely come from household and bottle glass which has been discarded on beaches and into the sea or rivers.

The weight and shape of sea glass allows it to move differently to some stones. It seems to be washed up in patches and tends to collect in drifts of shingle and shells, or get trapped between and around rocks. Very dark green bottle glass can be mistaken for stones; if in doubt, hold it up to the light. Glass will let the light through.

Collecting sea/beach glass has become a popular hobby, and it is now harder to find as a result. There is a trade in sea/beach glass, with lots available on eBay and through craft sites such as Etsy. The value depends on the grade, colour, shape and size.

Cleaning glass, pottery and shells

Sea glass, and especially glass on estuary beaches, picks up sand and mud, as well as salt from the water. This should be cleaned off and the pieces left to dry before sorting and grading. This can be done in a sink or bowl with warm water, washing-up liquid and an old toothbrush. It’s a good idea to rinse off the soap in case it leaves a residue.

Take care:

o       Glass may have unnoticed sharp edges. It may also break against other glass and stones, or if you drop it.

o       It is translucent in water, make sure the sink or bowl is empty before draining the water – you don’t want your bounty disappearing down the drain!

Yearning for the beach

The weather has turned windy and rainy after six weeks or so with hardly any rain. On the warmest days, I would have loved to go to the beach, but what with the lockdown due to the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic, it hasn't been sensible to go there. I've missed the sensory pleasure of being there (although not missed the inevitable crowds). My yearning gave rise to this ....

Au bord de la mer

Hot bright sunlight on my face

Drying salty hair and lashes

Legs wet with sandy splashes

Feet tingle with shingle scratches

Cool wavelets’ sea foam catches

My skirt hem like liquid lace

(W)Racking my brains

Nolton Haven is a more-or-less U-shaped inlet on the west coast, facing roughly south-south-west. Looking out past the cliffs which form the mouth of the haven, you can see the jagged humps of Stack Rocks, near Brandy Bay and Mill Haven, between Little Haven and St Brides. Beyond them, the curve of land ending in what appear to be hills and valleys is the north coast of the Marloes peninsula. You'd need a telescope to see the details of the spectacular old red sandstone cliffs, but binoculars will help you see that the lumpy 'hills'  are islands. Left to right, the peninsula ends with the steep cliffs of Wooltack Point, then there is Midland Isle and Skomer. Skokholm lies behind the end of the peninsular and Midland Isle, indistinguishable from the other land in the haze. Ships waiting for their place at the oil terminals near Milford Haven often anchor off the coast, looming out of the mist.

I probably only go there once or twice a year, as it always takes longer than I think it will; I get lost in the narrow, winding lanes and drive slowly, as there is a lot of traffic, both cars and farm vehicles, and potentially horses from the large riding stables in Nolton village.

(You should be able to click on the photos below to see a larger version.)

This was taken 4 August 2015, when it was chilly enough to wear a coat!

Last Sunday, a friend and I decided to take some sandwiches and blow away some cobwebs with a little walk on the beach. The sun was playing hide-and-seek, and it was even blowier than expected, adding extra sand to the sandwiches. The tide was out, enticing us to walk down the beach. There's a stream which flows under the road and  onto the beach spreading out over the sand so that it stays wet. On either side, there are rocks covered with barnacles and seaweed, and rockpools.

Take a tip from me and stay in the sandy centre of the haven if you go for a swim. Several years ago, I swam to a little sandy patch near the cliffs and the waves pushed me against some of the rocks. It was only when I got out that I felt the sting and realised when I saw blood dripping onto my feet that one of my shins had several deep scratches from the barnacles.

The rockpools don't generally have much in them. There are the usual beadlet anemones, a few crabs, but I've rarely seen any shrimp or small fish. There is a lot of weed. Every year, I remind myself that I should learn something about seaweed so that I can name what I'm looking at.

I don't know what the astonishingly purple weed is, but it really was that colour!

The most common weed covering the rocks is the brown one with greener blobs on the end and occasional bubbles in it. I thought it was Bladder Wrack Fucus vesiculosus, but was I right?

Back home, I had a cup of tea while I leafed through a couple of my nature guide books. I have quite a collection, but the two I took from the shelf were The Readers Digest Field Guide to the Water Life of Britain, and the Hamlyn Guide Seashores and Shallow Seas of Britain and Europe (Campbell and Nicholls).* I'm not sure either of these are still in print, but you can pick good second-hand copies up very cheaply from Amazon. (* These are affiliate links)

It turned out my memory was correct, and while I had my guide-book in hand, I looked at the details for the other types of wrack commonly found around the UK coastline - Toothed or Serrated Wrack Fucus serratus, Spiral Wrack Fucus spiralis, Knotted or Egg Wrack Ascophyllum nodosum, Channelled Wrack Pelvetia canaliculata, and decided that would be enough for the time being. The green prickly puffs on the end are fruiting bodies.

I love the patterns and textures of the weed-draped rocks. Now I want to see what other weeds I can identify ... or is that just an excuse for another trip to the beach?

Soothing sunset

One of the joys of living down here is the opportunity to just take a trip or a detour to watch the sunset from a beach.

I'd been up to Cardigan to have some work done on the car (ach, stress and money!) and as I collected it, I realised it was going to be a lovely evening. Too lovely to go home straight away, so I took the road which would take me to Fishguard, without really thinking what I wanted to do. As I reached Dinas Cross, I realised the west-facing Pwllgwaelod* would be a lovely place to watch the sunset.

On a fine evening, I love the whole time between the golden hour, when the setting sun turns everything to gold and blue, and the dusk when it gets too dark to see. After the sun dips below the horizon, the 'blue hour' might include a lovely sunset of reds and oranges to contrast with the darkening sky, especially if there are clouds to pick up the colours. Or it might just colour the sky and sea gentle shades of greenish-yellow, coral, violet, and eventually a sky-blue-pink as the pink band of the Belt of Venus stretches along the darkening horizon. The same thing happens in reverse at dawn, from dark to sunrise. Being a night bird, I tend to catch dawns by staying up late rather than rising early, although the latter has been known too!

It turned out to be a lovely sunset. I sat on the sea wall and watched as the sun disappeared, the sky and reflecting sea took on various colours, changing and darkening. I could feel myself breathing more slowly, relaxing, my mind stretching out into space. Lights came on in the distance, and I realised that they were the lights of the station and ferry port at Goodwick.

Reluctantly, I brought myself back to a 'now' which demanded action, got up stiffly, tottered back to the car and drove home.


* It helps to remember that in Welsh, W is a vowel, pronounced as a short oo. LL is a soft sound created by pressing the end of your tongue to the palate just above and behind your front teeth and then breathing out through slightly parted teeth and lips. 'Wae' is pronounced like 'why'. Pooll-gwhy-lod. Bottom pool or cove.