A family venture which breathes new life into old fishing gear is celebrating overwhelming support from the county’s business sector.

Cornish Spliced, which makes a range of products including dog leads and toys, mats, bowls, keyring and floating fobs from repurposed fishing ropes and ghost gear, is now working with 16 wholesalers from across Cornwall and Isles of Scilly within just a few months of launching.

Environmental and heritage charities through to lifestyle businesses, gallery shops and pet stores are now a point of sale for Cornish Spliced products, which are attracting interest from those who love Cornwall or feel passionately about the environment and repurposing.

Cornwall Heritage Trust, The 2 Minute Beach Clean Foundation, the Library, The Dog Groomers and Fisherman’s Co-op in St Ives St Ives, Wayside at Zennor, Fraggle Rock Bar and The Store on the Isles of Scilly, Gwelmor in Widemouth Bay, Peppercorn Café in Perranuthnoe, Edhen Vets in Truro, The Roberts Gallery in Mevagissey, Southpaw Dog Stores in Falmouth, Bailey’s Country Store in Penryn, Pawfect Doggy Hampers in St Erth and Freddie’s Friends in Launceston are all now established wholesalers of Cornish Spliced products, with more businesses on the horizon.

15-year-old Beth Perkin, who started Cornish Spliced last October with her grandad explains:

“When I had the idea for my grandad to make me a dog lead from his old fishing rope, using his splicing skills, I thought I might be able to sell a few leads to friends to make some pocket money. I never imaged that nine months later the whole family would be splicing and making all kinds of goodies from rope, supplying 16 businesses around the county”.

Beth continues: “I am so grateful to Cornwall Heritage Trust, The 2 Minute Beach Clean Foundation, St Ives Library, The Dog Groomers, Fisherman’s Co-op, Wayside, Fraggle Rock Bar, The Store, Gwelmor, Peppercorn Café, Edhen Vets, The Roberts Gallery, Southpaw Dog Stores, Bailey’s Country Store, Pawfect Doggy Hampers and Freddie’s Friends. We have been really surprised and encouraged by all support from businesses that would like to work with Cornish Spliced. We are over the moon that so many fantastic organisations are sharing our mission and adventure. We would like to say a huge thank you to every single one of them.”

Beth makes the products with her mum Rachel and grandad Frank Plummer – a retired St Ives fisherman, who is passing on his traditional fishing skill of splicing to his family, who are all getting involved to support the new family venture, including Beth’s aunty Helen and little cousin Ailla.

With generations of Cornish fishing in their blood, the family is proud to keep this heritage skill alive, whilst also preventing retired fishing rope from going to landfill; alongside collecting ghost gear and plastics from Cornwall’s beaches, repurposing it to stop it re-entering the sea.

The 2 Minute Foundation joined Cornish Spliced within weeks of starting and explains why theirs was one of the first organisations to get involved.

Jodie Harper, Shop Manager for The 2 Minute Foundation said: “Our charity was born from the need to clean up our beaches, lost and discarded fishing gear is a huge hazard to wildlife and the environment so it’s really important to get ghost gear off the beach.

"It’s a strong and durable material so chucking it in landfill is a last resort, finding a new life for it is the best solution and we love people that find creative ways to do this.

"As soon as I saw what Cornish Spliced were doing and read their story I wanted us to work together. We love their products and that each one is labelled with its “previous life” and where the materials came from.”

Cathy Woolcock, CEO of Cornwall Heritage Trust also explains why their charity is so pleased to be involved:

“Splicing is a heritage skill which is being lost as fishing in the region is declining. In past times, families fished together, often owning a boat that was passed down through generations, along with traditional skills needed for fishing. As fishing for a smally family income is declining in the Duchy, so are the heritage skills that go with it. We are delighted to support this skill passing through a family’s generations in this new way. We are proud to have some of Cornish Spliced products for sale in our online shop, raising funds for our work whilst preserving this Cornish heritage.”

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Alongside “grandad Frank’s” retired fishing rope, materials have been donated from other Cornish fishing families and directly off the boats through Newlyn harbour master; the family also do a beach clean nearly every day, removing any rubbish and plastics, passing it to other crafters in the region to repurpose wherever possible and leading the #rePURPOSEDinCORNWALL community.

Products, wholesale partners and news on their adventures can be found on Cornish Spliced social media accounts: Facebook/Twitter @CornishSpliced and Instagram @Cornish_Spliced, with a website coming soon.

If you would like to talk to Cornish Spliced about becoming a wholesaler, or for further information, email hello@CornishSpliced.co.uk