In the past, goose barnacles attached to mainly driftwood. Now though, I find them on everything from plastic bottles, fishing gear and toothbrushes ...
No 9. Buttons (17th – 21st century)
The regularity of circles always draws my eye. So whether mudlarking or beachcombing, I often find buttons: in shallow Thames pools or wedged side-on ...
No 8. Plastic nature
Against strandline seaweed, the green of plastic plants catches the eye. Perhaps most poignant are those left high on shore after gales, particularly ...
No 7. Toothbrushes: bone & plastic
In Europe, the toothbrush remained a luxury until the late 18th century. The most expensive had badger-hair bristles and handles made from ivory, ...
No 6. Gradual breakdown of the flotsam army
Over the years I’ve found a lot of plastic army men on beaches. Most are left on the strandline at high tide, often amongst the swathes of plastic ...
No 5. Sugar moulds, cowries & slavery
‘Having crossed London on the Tube wearing wellies (which always gets a few glances), I walked into Wapping through cavernous streets overshadowed by ...
No 4. Fèves: a plastic wise man & a fish
The plastic figure below is one of the Bible's three wise men. I found it on the south coast of Cornwall, in a strandline tangle of seaweed and ...
No 3. Light bulbs & the Phoebus cartel
‘We headed towards Warden Point – which is no longer a point – and the strange, unstable landscape felt almost immediately remote. On exposure to air, ...
No 2. Action Man body parts (1966-73)
This hand is around 50 years old and washed up on a Cornish beach during the February storms. As the strongest gales of Storm Ciara coincided with ...
No 1. Bone & plastic combs (17th-21st Century)
Combs have been a favourite shore find of mine for years. I like that they’re ordinary, personal objects, as well as one of our oldest tools. The ...