Lindsey Gallacher

Pottery pieces I've had for 20 years, each one of them considered and picked up because they'd caught my eye. The thing is, I have never used them and often they're put in a box but when I do find them again they instantly remind me of days out and therefore are my kind of souvenir. When we were little, our first experience of beachcombing was to find 'groatie buckies', my granny was an expert, she always had the most at the end of the day.  In Caithness there are very few pieces of pottery or sea glass so anything other than shells are a real find. The pieces in the photo are from Lyndesfarne and Embo.

Beachcombing is a pastime loved by many. Finding a treasure between some pebbles that no one else has seen. It could be a piece of seaglass, the rounder and frostier the better, or a piece of pottery perhaps from times long ago. I found this stone the other day, on a beach that has few shells and no glass or pottery, it does however have the most amazing assortment of rounded boulders in every colour and pattern imaginable. I resist the temptation to take one home every day but can't help myself when the tide has wet them, pick up a stunning stripey or speckled rock to put on display by the front door. Every time though without fail, when the stone dries off, the glossy patterns fade to dusty images. Really they should be left where they are, but who can resist?