The Pebbles on the Beach

An illuminating, summery and delightfully schoolmasterish guide. Written by a history teacher who had served on the Western Front, and later became a pebble-collecting enthusiast, it answers all life’s important questions. Where do pebbles come from? What are they made of? And how do you find a really rare one?... Inspiring ... A rare find ... Some of its charm derives from the sheer fascination of the subject, some from the period tone, but a lot reflects the author’s personality. Ellis comes across like a reserved but eccentric uncle ... Republishing this book was a brilliant idea ... [it] deserves to be a huge summer bestseller.

There's nothing quite like the thrill of hunting for treasure on the shingle-studded beaches of Britain ... This classic Fifties book on pebble-collecting has just been re-published, in the hope of reigniting enthusiasm for this great British tradition ... The book was a roaring success ... the staple companion to the British seaside experience: a wonderfully therapeutic form of escapism and free fun, whatever the weather. Today, Ellis' guide, with his thoughtful, almost poetic descriptions, is just as useful almost 65 years on - and perhaps it has never been more necessary ... Utterly enchanting.

In this scorching record-breaker of a British summer, Ellis’s book has become a runaway bestseller.

I love this book. Like all the best nature books it is alchemical, sparking wonder in the mundane.

If you are the sort of person who feels soothed by the shipping forecast, you’ll love this book about our shores… its tone of voice recalls postwar Britain, the Light Programme and trips to the seaside. But instead of Dogger, Fisher and German Bight, it introduces us to the poetry of onshore phenomena: longshore drift, fulls and swales, heliotrope, chalcedony, swash, backwash and fetch… Ellis’s account of the geology of pebbles – what they’re made of, where they come from, and how – is fascinating, and he offers a whistlestop tour of the English and Welsh coastline, describing what to look for where. Even if you never pick up a pebble (and you’ll find it hard not to), it’s a surprisingly satisfying beach read.