Beachcombing

Who says the days of finding hidden treasure are over? Along the shores of our oceans and in the mudflats of our tidal rivers, pretty things, precious oddments and little pieces of history are washing up every day. Fragile many-coloured shells, ambergris, a message in a bottle: there’s no knowing what you might find while you’re treasure-seeking on the beach. So become a sharp-eyed archaeologist of the sands for a day and feel the thrill of spotting fossils, scraps of chainmail or even fragments of spaceships. Looking at ancient coins in a museum is ok, but finding one for yourself, swept to you straight from the hand that spent it three hundred years ago? Now, that’s really something.