Wrecking in the Poldark novels, foraging in rock pools, collecting of shells and pebbles and clearing of plastic debris washed up from the sea can all loosely be described as ‘beachcombing’. It’s something many of us have done as you wander along the tideline and Cornwall offers great opportunities for finding all manner of interesting objects and some which need disposing of as quickly as possible!

Rock pools at low tide are good places to look for mussels, brown crabs and shrimps and the walk to the sea can offer samphire and other edible plants. Seaweed too has become more popular even being harvested sustainably and sold commercially from the Cornish Seaweed Company based near Falmouth.

After a storm is always a good time to look along the shoreline and you often find fishing paraphernalia amongst the debris. Plastic too washes up in alarming quantities – a salutary reminder of how non bio-degradable most of it is.

A bag full of sea shells is a delight and how many people remember sticking them on jam jars or making pictures as a child? In Cornwall, the common seashells include limpets, dog whelks, mussels, European cowrie. Sometimes you see brightly coloured but frosted pieces of sea glass that can be made into jewellery.

Keep looking for it’s a wonderful and free way to spend an afternoon by the coast and there’s always a small chance of finding a message in a bottle washed up from afar. …..