GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

01-01-2004, 04:05 PM

(Simon Avery) wrote in news:1072897410
@digdilem.org:

(Nick Maclaren) wrote:

Hello Nick

NM As Cormaic pointed out, builders' sand has not had salt in
NM it for many decades - at least not if bought from an even
NM half-respectable person.

They don't wash it at the quarry, and that's where I get mine from.
I'm a bit hazy about the geology side - I guess sand comes from both
sea and river sources, so if former it would surely have traces of
salt in it?

Some sand comes straight out of the sea.

In Barnstaple there is (or was for a long time) a sand dredger that went
out into the estuary at lowish tide, somehow gobbled up a sandbank, then
waited for the rising tide to float it off and back up the estuary to
unload.

Dunno what they do with the sand, but I assume they had to wash it,
whatever. (There always seems to be plenty of sand left...)

Victoria