If you’ve read my previous #StevesLibrary post then you will have probably found out that I have quite the passion for geology. That brings us to the latest book I recently put down, The Pebbles on the Beach by Clarence Ellis. Without looking it up, you probably wouldn’t realise that the book itself was first published in 1954, it has aged well and with it so has the information contained within. If you’ve got a copy of the paperback (like that pictured below), the outer cover of the book folds out into a very handy pebble ID guide! I feel as though this is a unique feature to a book of this nature, I haven’t seen it anywhere else before.

Ellis’s account of pebbles and their geology is a both fascinating and a throwback to simpler time. After a few chapters exploring the basic geology of how rocks form, where they can be found and of fossils there is a whislestop tour of the English and Welsh coastline. On this tour, Ellis describes where to go and what to look for if you are after a pebble made from a particular rock/mineral. As someone who grew up on the coast and often went beach-combing to see what I could find, this book certainly reminded me of those long days spent looking for something unique of valuable along the foreshore.

If you have an interest in pebbles, geology or just understanding more about how the UK formed and what it’s made of then this is certainly a book for you!