Sea Glass Guide: The Ultimate Sea Glass Hunting Companion

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The working conditions at the mill were terrible, and the mill owners decided to reduce the meager wages they were paying. The men started to organize into a union, and Sexton and Honora were swept up in the effort. The story is told in chapters from the views of five characters. There were also letters from Honora's mother, Alice, advising her how to maintain a household on a small amount of money, and offering warm motherly support. Throughout the story, Honora walked the beach looking for smooth sea glass. She imagined that different colors of glass represented the various people she knew. The sea glass was bounced around by the waves like Honora was challenged by life. But they both ended up beautiful and unbreakable. The different shades of glass were determined by the chemicals used in making the glass, as well as the temperate of the melt and the length of time it was melted for. Seaham and nearby Sunderland were home to many bottleworks and glass making factories during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Seaham boasted the largest glass bottle works in Britain – The Londonderry Bottleworks, operating from the 1850s to 1921. It’s up to you how much sea glass you collect, you can take it home to enjoy or leave it behind for others to find. Some people display the sea glass they’ve found in glass bottles or some even make jewellery from it. You can leave the sea glass as it is or give it a wash and brighten it up by brushing it in baby oil.

The bottleworks would dump large amounts of waste glass straight into the North Sea and that’s where Seaham’s sea glass story began! That’s why with each new tide, you’re certain to find colour little gems along Seaham’s shore, which have been shaped and smoothed by the North Sea for over 100 years. I also found absolutely fascinating the descriptions of Sea Glass, those colourful shards of glass smoothed by the sea that one sometimes comes across on beaches. Anita Shreve cleverly uses Honora’s collection of these shards as a link throughout.This is the 2nd Shreve book I finished in the last couple of weeks. I really enjoyed reading it, though not quite as much as Light on Snow. The structure of the book -- alternating between the viewpoints of the different characters -- made it take a little while to really get into it and feel invested in the characters, but once they started intersecting, I couldn't put it down. And the structure provided some great symbolism -- little threads weaving in and out of others' lives, sometimes only briefly, and sometimes with monumental consequences.

The most common glass to find in Seaham is clear and green glass, as this was the most popular coloured glass produced by the bottleworks. You’ll also find yellow, red, blue, aqua and even multi-coloured pebbles or milk glass which comes in pastel shades of blues, yellows and green. Like those translucent shards that Honora finds on the beach, Sea Glass is layered with the textures, colors, and voices of another time. There is Vivian, an irreverent Boston socialite who becomes Honora's closest friend even as she rejects every form of convention. McDermott, a man who works in a nearby mill, presses Honora's deepest notions of trust--even as he embroils her in a dangerous dispute. And there's Francis, a boy whose openness becomes the bond that holds these people together as their world is flying apart.This book is the reason that whenever I walk on the beach, I am walking stooped along the shore, searching for little bits of beach glass in the sand. So far I have collected two bowlfuls. I don't have a big white platter like Honora does in this book, but a bowl full of beach glass is very satisfying to run your hands through (don't worry, it is so dulled by the sand and the waves that it's smooth and curved, not sharp anymore) . . . And although so far I've mostly found green, white, and brown, little Gabrielle (maybe because of how short she is and consequently how much closer to the ground) just this week found a lavender one with starbursts on it . . . SCORE!

Collecting sea glass is just one of many events and activities to enjoy along the Durham Coast.With so much to explore,extend your visitand book a seaside stay in one of the county's many award-winning hotels, bed and breakfasts or carvan parks. There are many beaches in Seaham, which all will have some sea glass washed up onto them, however the most popular beach for finding sea glass is Seaham Hall Beach (also known as North Beach or Vane Tempest).

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Reading your work made me realize that I am not alone in how I feel, and the bitterness I hold is not necessarily a bad thing. Even if I hadn't been drawn to this book on a personal level, I would have enjoyed it. Shreve weaves a story about a newly married couple (Honora and Sexton) and the many people who touch their lives - from the wealthy heiress who owns a grand beach house down the shore from their rundown cottage, to the lives and struggles of Sexton's co-workers. It is about love, personal frailty, friendship, flaws...and so much more. And, topping it all off, sea glass! Beautiful, tumbled, thrown about, surviving - as do we. It is a house on the beach. Honora doesn't mind renting--despite its age and all its flaws, the old house is the perfect place for a new marriage. She and Sexton throw themselves into fixing it up, just as they throw themselves into their new life together. Each morning, Honora collects sea glass washed up on the shore, each piece carrying a different story in its muted hues.