Game piece from 1940s found on north Cornwall beach litter pick

A plastic toy thought to be about 80 years old was found on a beach clean in Cornwall. The green lion figure, believed to be from a 1940s board game was found by 14-year-old Leila while sorting through litter found on the north Cornwall coast. Leila was volunteering for Beach Guardian, a Cornwall Community Interest Company (CIC), as part of her Duke of Edinburgh Award. She said they were unsure what it was at first, but after doing some research, the team discovered the playing piece was from a board game called The Lion and the Mouse which was last manufactured in 1946. Andrew Whittle from Beach Guardian, near Padstow, said it was the oldest item the group had ever found. He said: "The great thing about finding these really old pieces is it really starts to bring the history of plastics into the present day and how long things like this can stay around for in the environment." He said the piece would be added to its beach cleaning museum where they were beginning to amass a big collections of "interesting things" found during the beach cleans. The lion was found when sorting through litter found at a number of beaches on the north Cornish coast. Follow BBC Cornwall on X, Facebook

Mar 17, 2026 → Mar 17, 2026