Get involved

Turn up on the day and one of the crew will show you how to help make the tiling.

We'll have lots of Spectre stampers, along with some other shapes so you can investigate tilings in the play area.

You'll be directed to an unfinished part of the tiling and told how to lay out the tiles. Don't worry if you make a mistake - it's just sand, so you can kick it over and start again!

The hardest part of the project is the organisation, so we'll need help from younger people to gather interesting stones and shells to serve as landmarks.

Spread the word

Here's a poster you can print out and put on notice boards, in windows, anywhere someone might see it.

Beach Spectres. In 2023, a new shape was discovered: the Spectre. It's the first shape ever found which can only make aperiodic tilings: patterns which never repeat, no matter how many tiles you use. Let's make a huge tiling! This summer, we're planning to go to the beach at Whitley Bay for a weekend, and try to make the largest aperiodic tiling ever! As the tide goes out, we'll use large “cookie cutter” tools in the shape of the Spectre to cover the beach with an aperiodic pattern. And at the end of the day, the tide will wash it all away! How can I get involved? We'll need lots of help to complete our giant tiling - come along and talk to mathematicians about the maths behind it, play with different kinds of tiles, and help stamp shapes into the sand until we cover the whole beach! Whitley Bay beach (South end) 6-7 June 2026, 10am-4pm beachspectres.com