h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Unfortunately the tide is in at the moment,
and it is raining,
and its too cold to go out,
and I'm at work...
But the minute all these factors are sorted out I shall be down on the Strand with a bucket in hand

I think I may have already said this before, but thanks Gnomon, and the rest of you, for an absolutely excellent entry in the true spirit of the Guide (at least my idea of the Guide).

Hmmm... I personally dislike using buckets and spades, and prefer getting my hands dirty.
And you've not really mentioned the sheer pleasure of making a huge pile of sand and then digging as many intricate and delicate tunnels all the way through it without letting it collapse - kinda like Jenga.

As someone who's spent his entire life living beside the sunniest beach in Britain, I consider that a serious ommission!

<BB<

The 'slodge castles' are an excellent variation - my brother and I have spent many frustrating yet rewarding hours trying to create a decently high tower...

Well that's not really a 'castle' is it now, BB...

I've always likes doing that with normal sound - and watching people curse as they walk on it and it collapses under them...

You can't make a proper sandcastle without making a drawbridge - which needs to have been tunnelled from a moat.
And the castle's gatehouse needs to have been tunnelled through...

Okay, perhaps you can take the tunnelling to an extreme where it becomes an art form, but a basic sandcastle tunnel is a vital and integral part of the sandcastle building experience.

<BB<

That's getting very close to the second favourite sand trick...undercutting the sleeping fat bloke. How much sand can you remove before he topples over?

Great