Beach rummaging in Dawlish

It's been a glorious, sunny January day, so this afternoon I was very happy to go rummaging along the beach in Dawlish. The sun sparkled on the waves and picked out some treasures: a large piece of sea-glass, two pebbles with holes in them which I collect for a friend who is somewhat obsessed by holey pebbles, and some nicely-rounded geological samples for me.

I also picked up an alien, which I originally thought was part of an octopus or squid, but actually it's a rather spooky-looking piece of seaweed. I'll let it dry out and keep it - for a while, anyway.

All in all, it was a good day.

Who remembers sixpenny bits?

Sixpenny pieces, did we call them, or sixpenny bits?

I found this little hoard among some of my late mother’s things.

They’re all pre-decimal, of course, so are no longer legal tender. Although Victorian silver sixpences were made almost entirely of silver, these later coins showing the head of George VI are a mix of silver and an alloy of copper and nickel. The silver sixpences from the reign of Elizabeth II contain no silver at all.

But they bring back happy memories of making Christmas puddings and cakes when I was a child, and we didn’t die of metal poisoning or choke to death on any of them. So it’s all good!