In his 1954 book The Pebbles on the Beach, Clarence Ellis shared his passion for the simple pleasure of pebble-hunting. In this extract, he details picks out some of the most common natural treasures you'll find on our shores and notes what they might look like after polishing. llustrations by Eleanor Crow.
The Pebbles on the Beach: A Spotter’s Guide was reissued by Faber & Faber on August 2, with a foreword by Robert Macfarlane (£9.99)

This is an image
1
of
36
1. Ovoid pebble of grey granite

This is an image
2
of
36
2. Grey granite with one surface cut and polished

This is an image
3
of
36
3. Pebble of schist with one surface cut and polished. The laminations are more clearly seen on an uncut surface

This is an image
4
of
36
4. Flattened ovoid pebble of crystalline limestone (unpolished)

This is an image
5
of
36
5. Fragment of whitish chert. Its angularities show that it has not been smoothed by the actions of the tides for long

This is an image
6
of
36
6. Portion of a rounded flint pebble. Note the thick, white coating that the grey flint has acquired on the beach

This is an image
7
of
36
7. Well-rounded pebble of fine-grained red sandstone

This is an image
8
of
36
8. Flattened ovoid pebble of conglomerate

This is an image
9
of
36
9. Highly polished ovoid pebble of red serpentine (white spot caused by a beam of light)

This is an image
10
of
36
10. Fragment of jet from the Yorkshire coast, near Whitby

This is an image
11
of
36
11. Ovoid pebble of red serpentine (unpolished)

This is an image
12
of
36
12. Flattened ovoid pebble of schist (unpolished). The wearing down of the stone has given the laminations on the upper side a quaint resemblance to two eyes looking through spectacles

This is an image
13
of
36
13. Cut and polished surface of an ovoid pebble of dolerite from the Whin Sill (Northumbrian Coast). The glossy black of the polished surface contrasts with the grey, speckled and worn exterior

This is an image
14
of
36
14. Pebble of black chert that has lost some of its angularities and is in the process of being rounded on the beach

This is an image
15
of
36
15. Evenly worn pebble of dolerite from the Whin Sill

This is an image
16
of
36
16. Fragment of basalt, strongly resisting the grinding and smoothing of tidal action

This is an image
17
of
36
17. Piece of amber from the coast of Suffolk

This is an image
18
of
36
18. Carnelian pebble, highly polished

This is an image
19
of
36
19. Broken piece of chalcedony

This is an image
20
of
36
20. Oval slice of onyx polished and stained for commercial purposes

This is an image
21
of
36
21. Amber pebble, highly polished

This is an image
22
of
36
22. Pebble of onyx. The banding is faintly discernible through the beach coating

This is an image
23
of
36
23. Ovoid pebble of carnelian (unpolished)

This is an image
24
of
36
24. Pebble of ‘fortification’ agate. The ground plan of the ‘fortress’ can be seen on the polished side

This is an image
25
of
36
25. Oval slice of agate pebble, polished and stained for commercial purposes

This is an image
26
of
36
26. Pebble of citrine, with whitish beach coating

This is an image
27
of
36
27. Citrine pebble, highly polished

This is an image
28
of
36
28. Cut pebble of purple jasper (unpolished)

This is an image
29
of
36
29. Group of quartz prisms

This is an image
30
of
36
30. Flattened cylindrical pebble of green serpentine

This is an image
31
of
36
31. Well-rounded pebble of opaque quartz

This is an image
32
of
36
32. Fragment of gabbro with one side cut and polished

This is an image
33
of
36
33. Ovoid pebble of grit, veined with quartz

This is an image
34
of
36
34. Polished pebble of purple jasper

This is an image
35
of
36
35. Ovoid pebble of quartzite with broken side uppermost, revealing the structure of tightly compacted grains

This is an image
36
of
36