Time and tide

From the archive, first published Friday 27th Sep 2002.

Does anyone know the meaning of the actions of the "sand circle man" on Brighton beach?

Every evening when the tide is sufficiently far out to reveal enough sand, down he comes with his stick. He then proceeds to draw the equivalent of crop circles in the revealed sand.

The drawing is interspersed with various forms of body movement closely allied to dancing.

Some of the movements are very aggressive and similar to kick-boxing and some seem fluid and meaningful. The moon and the tides play a very large part in the daily

ritual. On the last occasion I watched him, from a 15th-floor flat window, he drew straight lines of differing lengths with little hillocks of sand at each end, followed by pacing horizontally up and down in the seawater for a good 40 minutes.

He is completely unperturbed by late-night walkers with dogs who unintentionally spoil his designs. He always uses the same stick and the other night spent a good deal of time digging out the gulley running down from the breakwater.

His designs, which are breathtakingly beautiful, are drawn fairly quickly, seemingly without a master plan. He can spend up to two hours on the beach and when he has completed his project, he retrieves his stick and climbs up the breakwater. He seems to disappear until the next low tide.

-Mr Buchanan, Eglantine Road, London

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