
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


In 1997 a freak wave washed 62 containers into the sea off a cargo ship near the coast of Cornwall. Inside one were five million pieces of Lego. By a strange quirk of fate, many of the Lego pieces had a sea theme. This is the story of the community of beachcombers trying to track down the miniature octopuses, scuba tanks, life rafts, flippers, sharks and some very rare green dragons still washing ashore today.
Beachcomber Tracey Williams set up the social media account Lego Lost At Sea, allowing people to share their finds. She leads BBC reporter Robin Markwell on a journey around the Cornish coastline looking for the tiny toys.
On the way they meet fishermen still bringing up Lego in their nets, families brought together by dragon-hunting and an artist making sculptures out of millions of pieces of microplastic. Lego Overboard is a tale about the joys of treasure-hunting with a serious message about the long-lasting legacy of plastic pollution in our seas.
Producer: Robin Markwell for BBC Audio in Bristol
By BBC Radio 44.3
257257 ratings
In 1997 a freak wave washed 62 containers into the sea off a cargo ship near the coast of Cornwall. Inside one were five million pieces of Lego. By a strange quirk of fate, many of the Lego pieces had a sea theme. This is the story of the community of beachcombers trying to track down the miniature octopuses, scuba tanks, life rafts, flippers, sharks and some very rare green dragons still washing ashore today.
Beachcomber Tracey Williams set up the social media account Lego Lost At Sea, allowing people to share their finds. She leads BBC reporter Robin Markwell on a journey around the Cornish coastline looking for the tiny toys.
On the way they meet fishermen still bringing up Lego in their nets, families brought together by dragon-hunting and an artist making sculptures out of millions of pieces of microplastic. Lego Overboard is a tale about the joys of treasure-hunting with a serious message about the long-lasting legacy of plastic pollution in our seas.
Producer: Robin Markwell for BBC Audio in Bristol

7,911 Listeners

1,066 Listeners

5,572 Listeners

1,802 Listeners

1,899 Listeners

1,744 Listeners

1,029 Listeners

2,107 Listeners

1,953 Listeners

481 Listeners

2,002 Listeners

489 Listeners

583 Listeners

112 Listeners

48 Listeners

305 Listeners

841 Listeners

61 Listeners

53 Listeners

3,234 Listeners

1,006 Listeners

67 Listeners

102 Listeners

49 Listeners

48 Listeners