Extreme Sandcastling
by Mark Robson
August 21, 2007
Just got back from our family holiday. We went back to my roots again this year, spending a week in West Wales. I spent all my secondary school years living in a little village called Red Roses, which is about half way between Carmarthen and Tenby – a beautiful part of the country. In a bizarre twist we ended up renting the bungalow directly opposite the house I grew up in! It was most strange looking out of the window each morning to see that familiar shaped house staring back.
Although the weather could have been kinder, I still ended up sunburnt and swimming in the sea five times in seven days. Mad? Yes! Cold? You betcha! (Brass monkeys spring to mind!) However, we all had a lot of fun. We bought a couple of body boards and spent three days body surfing at Tenby and Manobier. My penchant for extreme sandcastling also caused some amusement and a lot of interest at Saundersfoot – so much so, that my wife saw the perfect opportunity for a bit of advertising! What you can’t see from the photographs (and sadly I’m not sure how to upload video here) is the big carved out letters spelling out www.markrobsonauthor.com in the sand at the end of the castle’s long, tree-lined driveway. We had several large groups of people admiring the castle, so I’m hoping that some of them will come here to look at my virtual web castle as well!
When I build sandcastles, I do it properly … it’s a man thing! (or so I’m told.) Oh, and for those who are wondering how the trees were made, they are driftwood sticks wrapped with seaweed. The portcullis was a chance find of some great steel mesh that was pretty much to scale. Sadly I built this one in the wrong spot for a running water moat this year – last year’s was amazing in that respect, but not on the same scale as this one.
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That is one impressive castle! You should give lessons :D
Comment by Joel — August 24, 2007 @ 11:11 am
Hi Mark, Great to see that fantastic sandcastle again. It truly was a spectacle to behold. We met on the beach on the Thurs. of your hols. I was the teacher from Cowbridge. When I came back from dear old west Wales, I looked you up on google, then Amazon. Your five star rating confirmed my suspicions that you are a popular author that I’d somehow missed as I’ve been stuck in lower juniors teaching!!
So, when in one week (oh no!) I return to school I’m going to tell the year 6 teacher about you, get one of your books (probably the first??) and enjoy reading it myself.
It would be good to know your prices. Could you e mail me with them, as we’re always on the lookout for visiting authors.
Take care. It was good to me you.
Janis.
Comment by Janis Ellis — August 25, 2007 @ 12:28 pm
Thanks, Joel. Perhaps I should add it to my list of workshops for schools!
Great to hear from you, Janis. My prices are listed on the ‘For Schools’ page, but if you want to discuss a possible visit, please do drop me a line through the Contact page.
If I may be so bold as to recommend you start by reading Imperial Spy, rather than the Darkweaver series. I think I’ve improved somewhat since those early books. They’re great stories, but my writing has progressed a bit since then.
Good luck with the back to school bit. It’s going to feel a bit like that for me as well, as I’ve got so many visits lined up for the Autumn that it’s going to feel like I’m a full time teacher for a while!
Comment by Mark Robson — August 25, 2007 @ 10:10 pm
Looks like you had a lot of fun, that sand castle is impressive!
Comment by Sam — August 26, 2007 @ 10:21 am
Nice sand castle, reminds me of the ones i build with my grandma when we are in that area. The beaches there are so amazing arent they. Sometimes we would go at 10am and leave after the tides has come right in at 10pm.
Hope you enjoyed your holiday.
Comment by M@ Price — August 29, 2007 @ 12:04 pm
Typical Mark… doesn’t do anything by half. Thanks for my complimentary Imperial Traitor, Mark! Cx
Comment by Clare... Mark's little sister — September 17, 2007 @ 10:26 pm
hi awsome sand castle must of taken hours. your books rule excpecially forging of the sword and imperal spy.
good luck on your new book.
Comment by sophie and aidan (gateway primary school) — November 12, 2007 @ 1:31 pm
Hello, Sophie and Aidan. Nice to see you here. I hope you will explore my site and enjoy all the information here about my books. I’m glad you like my sandcastle as well – it took quite a lot of effort to build, so it’s nice to have people admire it. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting your school the other day. It was great to come somewhere so familiar.
Best wishes. Mark
Comment by admin — November 15, 2007 @ 10:41 pm
Nice castles, I had a friend who once designed and made a lifesize alligator out of sand but then he tripped over it and sadley it was destroyed. I like the detail on the sand castle. Have you ever entered a sand castle building competition?
Comment by Alex — November 30, 2007 @ 10:21 am