A beach cleaner was stunned after discovering litter in a Cornish beauty spot that had travelled thousands of miles – with some of it dating back nearly a century.
Andy Goodall says the discoveries were made during a recent visit to Fistral Beach in Newquay.
The group coordinator’s finds included a Smith’s salt and vinegar crisps packet that was buried in the dunes.
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The packet featured a ‘Help the Animals’ promotion and an offer for a wildlife-themed photo competition.
It was found to date back 52 years.
“There was no best before date,” Andy told What’s The Jam.
“But it did say ‘Offer closes 31st August 1973’.
“That makes it at least 52 years old, and it’s still in surprisingly good condition.”
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The packet also advertised a ‘fabulous two-week BOAC holiday’ for a family of four.
BOAC became part of British Airways in 1974.
However, another piece of litter found was far older still.
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On a different clean-up, the group discovered the bottom half of a metal tube of Cooltan, a tanning product thought to date back to the 1930s or 1940s.
Andy said, “It’s been an interesting challenge researching it.
“Cooltan was made by Kathleen Court Cosmetics, founded by a young English woman who moved to Australia in 1925.
“The first UK advert appeared in 1935, and the same design as our find was seen in a 1937 Daily Mirror ad.”
Another discovery was a six-year-old lobster trap tag that had travelled nearly 3,000 miles via the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic current before washing ashore in Cornwall in October 2025.
Andy said, “During last month’s beach clean, we found this green strip of plastic in the strand line.
“It turned out to be a lobster trap tag from the United States.”
U.S. regulations require every lobster trap to carry a license tag, which helps trace its origin.
Andy said: “This one was marked ‘ME 19 7718 A1 0321 SCND’.
“ME stands for the state of Maine.
“19 is the 2019 season.
“7718 is the owner’s license number.
“A1 is the federal region — up to 26 miles out to sea. 0321 is the trap number.
“SCND means it’s a replacement tag.
“It shows how some of the plastics we find here may have come all the way from the U.S. or even the Caribbean.
The historical finds were a reminder that nothing really disappears once it reaches the sea.
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