Crosby Beach

Our day at Crosby

After many amazing posts regarding the potential of collecting sea glass at Crosby Beach me and my girlfriend finally took the plunge and took a day to visit the infamous beach. We arrived at around 12:00 pm which was approximately one hour after the tide had reached its peak giving us fantastic access to the whole 2-mile shoreline. In actuality, I’d recommend visiting the beach when the tide is in and following it outwards but we decided against this only due to the fact we wanted to see, and visit up close, Antony Gormley’s statues something I hadn’t done before. 

Considering the weather we got quite lucky as visiting in mid-April had the potential to be disastrous. Luckily the weather held up and we spend the best part of 4 hours traversing the wonders of this beach. We started our search at the Crosby Leisure Centre (L23 6SX) which has free parking (we headed inside to ask in the Lesure center as there are many signs that say Private Parking so we weren’t sure). As the tide was out we headed straight for the shoreline and this is where we found a decent haul of Sea Glass but much less than we expected. After an hour of searching, we had probably amassed around 30 pieces with the majority being clear or green pieces. That being said we did find an occasional brown and also found a rare orange piece.

With the tide coming in a coastal guard warned us regarding the incoming tide, so we decided to head back and drive to another entrance, considered the main entrance to Crosby Beach (L23 8TA). Located here is the Costal Guard Station and this is the main area where you’ll find the majority of your sea glass. Located just to the east after the main ramp is an area of washing up and highly beaten rocks and bricks (it’s hard to miss). It’s this area here where the majority of our sea glass was found (80% of it). Here you won’t go 5 seconds without instantly spotting another piece and it’s incredibly easy to be choosey with the pieces you take home with you.

Working your way up the shoreline from here is recommended as we found the best pieces here as this area was often untouched. The walking across the rocky surface was also fantastic (just make sure you have good footwear) as sea glass is often hidden between the rocks. Moving the rocks and combing underneath was also a good technique.

Overall Crosby Beach was a pleasure to search for and by far the best beach we’ve searched in the North West. The only downside for us was the lack of variety in color, but if you’re just looking for pieces for art, or even just want a great day out, there’s a lot worst than Crosby Beach.

Types of sea glass

The diversity of sea glass at Crosby Beach is fairly boring. On the main, you can expect to find a majority of clear and green sea glass with the likes of brown coming firmly in 3rd place. Safety Glass was also very common as was sea pottery which is very common ono the beach. Rarer sea glass was just as rare and we only found a few pieces of more obscure colors including black (pirate), orange and blue.

Best places to search

The Best place to search by far is the huge rocky area located just to the right of the main car park (right next to the Coastal Guard Station). Here is where you’ll find so many choices that’ll you’ll be inundated with choices probably opting to leave those pieces that are either too small or not frosted enough to take. Moving large rocks is recommended. The further up you travel the shoreline (in the direction of the rocks) the better the finds as this area is unusually uncombed.

Parking, transport and toilets

Paid Parking is available next to the Costal Guard Station. It is approximately £3.00 for 4 hours. You can use cash, card, or the PayByPhone App available on Apple and Android. Free Parking is available further up the beach if you choose to park next to Crosby Leisure Centre.

Crosby Beach can be reached by foot from Waterloo (Merseyside), Blundellsands and Crosby, or Hall Road railway stations. The number 53 bus runs through South Road, Waterloo, which stops near Waterloo Station. Many people take the 10-minute walk from here to the end of South Road where the Marina begins and Crosby Beach is located over the sand dunes. There is also car parking at Crosby Swimming Baths.

Paid toilets are available near the Costal Guard Station for I think 20p. When we parked at the Lesure Centre we used their toilets inside for free.

Our sea glass haul

We collected a staggering amount of sea glass while at Crosby Beach. In total, we collected over 200 pieces that amounting to a weight of 350 grams. Below are just a few of the stand-out pieces that we found.

Black Sea Glass (Pirate)

As one of the oldest glass bottle colours I was delighted when I stumbled across this so-called Pirate Seaglass. It gains its color through Iron Oxide, often added during manufacturing, which creates stronger glass and shields the liquid from sunlight. Today, Black Glass is rarely manufactured and Black Sea Glass can be as old as the Roman Era.

Yellow Sea Glass

Another fascinating and unusual find was the piece of Yellow sea glass. Glass made with the mineral selenium develops a warn sunny color. This piece is almost developing an orange tinge probably due to its age and time spent in the sea. Due to its vibrant tones this sea glass is most likely from an art a vase or a decorative piece. Even so, Yellow sea glass is extremely rare so I was delighted to add this to my collection.

Our Largest Piece of Sea Glass

This is by far the largest piece of sea glass we’ve ever found. It may not look that large in the image to the right but this big boy measures a whopping 8cm by 6cm. It isn’t as frosted as I’d have liked but it was the find of the day in my opinion. I’m unsure what it is but it could be from It most likely come from a large piece of furniture like a glass table. If anybody has any clue what it might be please get in touch we’d love to know!

Safety Glass

One of the surprising aspects of my trip to Crosby was the huge amount of safety glass that can be found. Safety Glass is a catch-all term that includes any glass that includes metal wiring used to reinforce and improve the strength of the glass. First invented in 1892, safety glass was used in windows to prevent and mitigate shattering in the event the window was to break. Safety glass is no longer used hence why much of it ended up in the sea.

Glass Bottle (Bottom)

Glass bottles always fascinate me especially if there’s any remanence of markings enabling us to quickly and easily identify what time period it was from. The bottom of a bottle is marked with a ‘UG’ located inside an elongated hexagon. I’ve identified that this bottle was from the United Glass Bottle of England. This symbol wasn’t used until around 1980 making this quite a recent, and frankly common sea glass bottle to be found. Its lack of frosting or wear means this could be an even more recent example.