We began, as many good things do, without a plan, one dark, rainy evening in Cornwall on an old fishing trawler named Albacore ...

In the beginning, 'Old Rope Salvage' was just a name, a description for our ‘make do and mend’ way of life on Albacore. Later, it became the name of our up-cycling business, and later still it evolved to encompass and symbolise our mission and our dream of living a sustainable way of life as artists and makers, creating, building and restoring as we go.

Tim is The Inventor. He likes to take things apart and put them back together again in new ways. Formerly a commercial illustrator and later a fine artist, he has rescued many an old car over the years, restored and converted a massive 50 year old fishing trawler into a houseboat, and has recently completed the mammoth restoration of our current big project; a 1975 Bedford Truck, former fire engine and soon-to-be (we hope!) rolling home on wheels of our dreams. Practical and inventive, Tim’s great skill is in finding magic and beauty where there is seemingly none, often at the bottom of a skip where he regularly discovers the objects he reuses and up-cycles.



… His greatest passion in life however, is drinking tea.

Lisa is The Storyteller ... A writer, illustrator and video editor, she has worked in too-many-to-count ‘normal’ jobs trying to support her unfortunate addiction to making art, and is a graduate of Falmouth University where she returned at the age of - (a-hem) - 42, to earn a Masters degree in illustration. It was here that she and Tim collaborated for the first time to create an installation for her final show based on the story of Albacore. More than a decade later, she currently uses her skills to create our online and offline content, design this fabulous website, and edit our videos. She is also an excellent workshop assistant and has (much to her eternal surprise) learned to wield many a spanner.

… She also makes a lovely cup of tea.



We first met around a million years ago at art college in Falmouth, but it would be 20 years and a lot of living later before our shared vision to live an alternative way of life as far from the 9-5 as possible eventually brought us back together and back to Cornwall, where as semi-delusional but hopelessly optimistic artists with a dream, we decided to begin again and set off down this rocky road of adventure …

In November 2020 we found a new home for Old Rope Salvage where, in a moment of post-lockdown lunacy (thanks, Covid!) we began work on our BIG NEW PROJECT: A Tiny (Big!) Home-on-Wheels which we are creating from the remains of a 1975 Bedford Firetruck ...    

Yes, less than 2 years after selling the boat, we were at it again ... We just can't seem to stop ourselves from taking on ridiculous projects!

This time we are renting a Barn-on-A-Farm in Cornwall just a few fields down from the caravan we currently live in on top a cliff (yes, really, raging sea storms aside, it’s actually quite nice!)

5 years later and we have finally finished restoring the truck from rusty wreck to a gleaming carriage of silver, gold and, well … brown ( it is from the 1970s after all!) and we are gearing up nicely to begin the second part of the project which is to build the habitation box on the back … You know, the bit we can actually live in. It’s been a long, ol’ haul, but you can catch up with our progress on our You Tube Channel where we have been documenting the whole process.

It’s been pretty epic so far and we are looking forward to sharing whatever comes next. Hopefully there is still enough money left in the piggy bank to keep us in pasties and tea for long enough to allow us to finish what we started 5 years ago and get this thing built …

Lisa & Tim - January 2026