Professor Sandcastle, Bournemouth University’s, expert on the humble sandcastle will be making an appearance next weekend. Ten years ago he did a piece of work reviewing which of Britain’s beaches were best for sandcastle building and came up with the magic formula for the perfect sandcastle. The ratio of eight parts of sand to one of water! Since then the work has appeared on the BBC Coasts programme and extensively in the media. Each year there is another crop of articles describing how to make the perfect sandcastle. Here is one of the latest.

Over the years it has proved a fantastic vehicle with which to interest people in the study of sedimentology, a specialist branch a geology. Sediments – rock and/or organic fragments – tell a story of erosion, transportation and sedimentation. These stories can be about our current landscape or ones millions of years ago in our geological past. Stories that tell of changing landscapes, past climates and ancient environments like those when dinosaurs last walked the Jurassic Coast.

Professor Sandcastle will be hosting a sandcastle competition on the beach next weekend, so why not pop down and get involved? There will also be a professional sand sculptor on hand to tell him out its done properly!