A walk along the shoreline with Rachel Lambert
We visit the foraging guide and author, who lives two minutes from the sea and a stone’s throw from our first ever shop.
For me, beachcombing is meditative, magical, and often full of surprises. When I need to empty my head of thoughts, pottering along the coastline in search of beautiful or interesting finds can be the perfect tonic.
A rainbow of seaweeds
Seaweeds come in three colours: red, green or brown. As loose seaweeds dry and decompose on the shoreline, they also change colour, naturally bleaching to white, yellow or pink.
See how many different shapes and colours of seaweeds you can find – there are over 640 species of seaweed off the British Isles and over 400 of these live and grow in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
Read Rachel’s top tips on foraging for edible seaweeds along the shore.
Kelp fragments are large, leathery seaweeds resembling bones, whips, claws and even bobbly brains, which often intrigue children and beachcombers alike. My dog loves to chew on them and toss them in the air like a stick. The ‘claws’ are the holdfast which attach every variety of kelp to rocks, and the brain-like forms are part of the rippled kelp ‘Furbelows’ which grow around the West coast.
Sifting the sands
I have many Cornish friends who make a regular effort to pick up litter on our beaches. They’re a great reminder to me to do the same. As well as gathering cans, plastic, clothing or fishing gear, you can sift for micro plastics.
These fragments accumulate on certain beaches depending on the tide, currents and wind direction. Fill a bucket or vessel with water and scrape up handfuls of the top layer of sand to place in the water. The plastics will then float to the surface. You can scoop these off with your hands or a sieve and place them in the bin.
Sea-smoothed treasures
As well as white, brown, green and rare blue sea glass, there’s a wonderful variety of seashells to discover along the Cornish coast. Mussels, razor clams, limpets, whelks, periwinkles, oysters, cockles and winkles.
I particularly love finding limpet ‘rings’, which are the victims of whelk’s carnivorous handiwork. Whelks are a type of sea snail that can drill through mussel or limpet shells, making a perfectly round hole that’s one or two millimetres across.
Once they’ve eaten the contents they’ll leave the empty shell, which wears down over time into an attractive ‘ring’ with smooth edges.
I always have a ‘special pebble’ in my pocket, on my shelf to look at, or sliding around on the dashboard of my car. It might be from a particular beach, triggering an array of memories, or it may be more about the stone itself, its shape or colour.
I turn it between my fingers when I’m nervous or need to return to the feeling of simple pleasure I find at the shoreline.
About Rachel
Rachel Lambert is a foraging guide and regularly walks at low tide for pleasure and well-being, to exercise her dog and to eye all the wonderful finds on the beach. Follow her on Facebook or Instagram, or discover her books and courses on her website.
Our Collection
Our collection this month has been inspired by long, sunny days by the shoreline. We’ve captured the delicacy and beauty of seaweed in botanical prints and used more recycled or organic fabrics than ever before, to create a beautiful slice of summer you can wear year-round.
