Isle of Man

Grand Island Beach, Ramsey

Ramsey’s north shore is one of the Isle of Man’s better-known stretches for sea glass, with local collectors also favouring the beach around the lifeboat station. The island’s east coast faces towards Britain’s former industrial heartlands, and generations of maritime traffic have left plenty of glass along this side of the island. Low water is usually best. Search through the shingle higher up the beach rather than the open sand, where most finds tend to be bottle glass in green, brown, clear and pale sea-foam tones. Less common finds include cobalt blue from old medicine bottles, glass marbles once used as Codd bottle stoppers, and thick black glass that reveals an olive colour when held to strong light. The west coast is generally considered much less productive, so the eastern shore is the place to focus.