Event report

We chose to run the event on days when the high tide would be early in the morning, in order to give us as much time as possible before it came back in to wash away our work.

Looking down towards Whitley Bay prom and beach. An ice cream kiosk is at the end of the prom. A banner and information stand are at the top of the stairs leading down to the beach.
The beach at Whitley Bay is clean and not too stony, and gets a lot of visitors thanks to the newly renovated promenade and tourist attractions at Spanish City.
A feather banner with the Beach Spectres logo.
A cargo tricycle packed with boxes, bags, a sandcastle bucket, brooms, rakes, and several long pieces of wood.
Christian got most of the stuff for the event down to the beach, packed in a cargo bike.

After unpacking and setting up signs, tables and chairs, we started tiling at 10:00.

Two Spectre stampers on the sand. The closest one has brightly coloured 3D-printed pieces on the side facing upwards. The one in the background is the other way round.
We used lasercut wooden stampers in the shape of the Spectre tile, with 3D-printed pieces added to the bottom face to help them cut into the sand.

To help coordinate the effort, we had prepared a large map of the level-4 portion of the Spectre tiling. Throughout the weekend, someone was in charge of the map, recording parts of the tiling that had been stamped.

A drawing of the level-4 Specter metatile. It's split into coloured regions, each labelled with a letter.

After placing the first tile, the tiling grew by a small group of tiles at a time. A volunteer would hand a Spectre stamper to someone who wanted to take part, along with a diagram showing where the nine tiles in a level-1 metatile should go.

A child and their parents, consulting a printed diagram while holding a Spectre stamper.
A child squatting and pressing a stamper into the sand.
Two children working together to stamp a Spectre into the sand.
Looking down on two children pressing a stamper into the sand.
Two people fitting a Spectre stamper next to Spectre impressions in the sand.
A person positioning a stamper, while a volunteer looks on.
A volunteer holding a stamper still while a child presses it into the sand.
A grey-haired woman holding a broom handle and using it to tap a Spectre stamper, which is being held still by a blonde child.
We had an adapted "accessibility broom handle" to help those who couldn't kneel down on the sand.

Whenever someone stamped a level-1 metatile, we would send them over to the gazebo to mark it with their initials. This gave them a feeling of ownership of their part of the tiling, and was an opportunity to give them a sticker, a small Spectre cookie cutter and an ice cream voucher as a reward.

Katie Steckles and Paul Taylor sitting behind the map table.
Volunteers gathered in the gazebo, talking to a participant and consulting the map.
Katie and Paul looking at the map, with materials piled on the table next to them.
Two children signing the map.
A close-up of the map, showing sections outlined and initialled in black pen.

The tiling process went much better than expected: with reference to the physical map and an interactive version on volunteers' phones, everyone knew what they were doing.

The tiling grew steadily throughout the day.

People around the edge of the tiling, kneeling and stamping or standing and thinking.
Two people kneeling and pressing stampers into the sand.
Looking at the tiling, a maze of indentatinos with marker stones scattered seemingly at random.
The edge of the tiling.
The edge of the tiling.
People gathered on the edge of the tiling. Some are pointing at an area to be filled in.
People kneeling around the edge of the tiling, adding more tiles. A volunteer in hi-viz and holding a tablet is pointing at a blank space.
A volunteer using a broom to smooth the sand.
Two people working together to press a stamper into the sand, while a child holding a stamper looks on.
Two children positioning a stamper, with volunteers looking on.
People gathered around an area of tiles, looking at a point a volunteer is pointing to. Another volunteer is standing in the middle of the tiling, awkwardly trying not to disturb the lines.
People working on the tiling.
People working on the tiling.
A child kneeling on the sand and holding a stamper, flanked by two adults.
A group of four people stood together in deep thought, while another person kneeling nearby positions a stamper.
A person in a hi-viz kneeling and looing carefully at Spectre tiles which have had numbers drawn on the sand inside them.
Occasionally a mistake was discovered, requiring the attention of a Stamp Boss.
A volunteer standing with two children.
A selfie with two volunteers smiling at the camera, with the tiling in the background.

It's easy to lose your bearings while moving around the tiling, so we used stones to mark each level-1 metatile. We gave each tile an "address" consisting of three letters, describing its position in the metatile system, and a number describing its position in the level-1 metatile. Some of the addresses were coincidentally fund words, such as HAM, MUM, and TOY.

A stone labelled HMY.
A stone labelled HAH.

On the beach and on the prom, we had three posters explaining the topic of tilings, and specifically the Spectre aperiodic monotile.

There were always at least two volunteers on the prom, ready to talk with passers-by about what we were doing and to share their enthusiasm for maths.

A volunteer dressed in a bright blue Beach Spectres t-shirt, barefoot, stood in front of a tuff tray and a poster board.
People looking at poster boards on stakes in the sand.
View from the beach, looking at the poster boards on the sand and the prom, with people stood around both looking thoughtful.
12 people stood in front of the information table on the prom. Volunteers are pointing at printed tessellations and 3D-printed shape cutters on the table.
A volunteer pointing at a poster board while a child looks on.
A person looking at the poster boards on the sand, with people working on the tiling in the background.
A grey-haired man stood with hands on his hips, listening to a smiling volunteer.
A volunteer stood on the prom, talking with a group of four people.

We also had a tuff tray on the prom filled with sand and smaller, 3D-printed cutters in a variety of shapes. These were popular with children and adults alike.

Looking down at the tuff tray. Two children are using the cutters to make impressions in the sand.
A child uses a small Spectre stamper to make impressions in the tuff tray sand.
Two children lean over each other to make Spectre tiles in the sand.
Two children using small stampers to make shapes in the sand.

Our drone operator, Alex Genn-Bash, took these impressive images of the tiling from above.

Looking down at the tiling in progress, with people stood around it.
Looking down at the tiling. Marker stones are clearly visible in the middle of some of the Spectre shapes.
Looking down on two people working on the tiling, coming down from the top towards dryer sand at the bottom.
Looking down at people working on the tiling.
Looking down at the tiling. A volunteer is looking up and smiling.
Looking down at the tiling.

At the end of the day, we packed everything up and picked up any litter, leaving only footprints and Spectre tile outlines.

Overnight, the tide came in and washed away everything we'd done.

Looking up the beach from the sea. Waves are coming in at the bottom of the frame. The white-domed Spanish City and the beach links are in the background.

The event was a great success: we not only produced an admirably large portion of Spectre tiling, we talked to and engaged hundreds of members of the public, from toddlers to retirees.

It wouldn't have been possible without the brilliant team of volunteers:

Christian Lawson-Perfect, Clare Wallace, Katie Steckles, Paul Taylor, Alex Genn-Bash, Ayliean Macdonald, Ashleigh Ratcliffe, Ashleigh Ratcliffe's mum, Sophie Bleau, Gurveer Arora, Ibraheem Sajid, Matthew Scroggs, Sam Kay, Ruth Holland, Brigitte Stenhouse, Mats Vermeeren, Max Hughes, Alison Kiddle, Zoe Griffiths, Jenny Pettet, Charlie Perkins, Shweta Sharma, Yasin Qazi, Miranda Horne, Tom King, Chris Graham, Peter Wells, Vicky Hall, Chris Harrison, Connor Gauntlett, Fergus Baker, Christian Bönicke, James Timmins, Martina Balagovic, Oliver Daisey, Daniele Turchetti, Patrick Creagh, Amritraj Dash, Victoria Schleis, Yue Ren, Laura Midgley, Devang Liya, Andreo Chimal, Jamie Walton, Jack Shotton, Luci Mullen, Dan Ratliff, Delion Tholens, Petra Staynova, Jamie Mason, Sam Holloway, Phil Dennis, Jenna, Ben Ashforth, Kevin Houston, Beth Diamond.

A blurry photo of a line of people gathered around the tiling, looking at the camera.
Saturday's volunteers
A line of people in blue Beach Spectres t-shirts, looking at the camera.
Sunday's volunteers

And a very special thank-you to our young helpers.