Found the ultimate tool for retrieving ropes from booms/masts etc.

Rope retrieval Tool

This tool is a thin metal skewer with a hooked end at one end and a threaded end at the other, it is about 30cm long. The thread fits perfectly into smaller garden steaks made out of bamboo. For those that can’t identify it is a bike spoke.

Next time you see an old bike dumped in the hard rubbish collection run out with your plyers and remove a couple of spokes. They undo near the rim by remove the threaded nut that goes through the rim.