Mudlarking: Lost and Found on the River Thames

Product Information

Lara speaks also of moment of the find. The care and preservation of artefacts. The best light and intensity of the search and how without that moments scan, hesitation, acquired skills objects might forever remain undiscovered or be shattered by one’s next step. Author Lara Maiklem is a proud London mudlark and shares her finds in Mudlarking - Lost and Found on the River Thames. First, some interesting facts about the Thames from the book. The practice of combing exposed riverbeds for lost treasures, termed ‘mudlarking’, is becoming increasingly popular thanks to social media. Hosted in Southwark Cathedral in celebration of London mudlark Lara Maiklem’s recent book, A Field Guide to Larking: Beachcombing, Mudlarking, Fieldwalking and More (2021), the event displays a number of found treasures.

Plus, anyone in London or beyond can attend Jason's free webinar talk ahead of the event, starting at 7.30pm on Tuesday, September 21. What makes this book so special is Lara’s writing and insights. She has that wonderful ability to let her mind wander, way beyond the present, and we follow in her imagination the provenance of her finds. Making up scenarios for how the objects came to be in the river; they have been preserved by the mud and spotted on the foreshore. Apparently Tower Beach was a great success and in 1935 approximately 100,000 people came to 'holiday' beside the Thames. What a sight this must have been.

The book is arranged geographically, moving west to east along the Thames. I’m not familiar enough with London for this progression to have meant much to me, so by just past the halfway point the chapters felt like “here’s where I went and here’s some things I found” and “here’s somewhere else I went and some other things I found.” I’m not sure how the structure could have been more successful: perhaps each chapter could have focused on a different time period or category of finds? All the same, this is a fascinating way of bringing history to life and imagining what everyday existence was like for Londoners across the centuries. (If only there were photographs of Maiklem’s collection!)

Participants are advised to wear sensible footwear and gloves, carry a mobile phone and not go alone. I always wanted to know more. So When I saw this book, I initially thought it was about these Victorians. It turns out that Ms Maiklem is a very modern mudlark, but that didn't make the book any less fascinating - moving from the tidal head of the Thames to the Estuary, she describes what she finds on the foreshore and tells fascinating stories about the people who lived, worked and died on the river, and whose lost possessions the tides still erode out of the mud.It is a real pleasure to read. In all these endeavours and historical asides she reveals more of herself and her journey into collecting things the river offers. While I found the writing and the river description, route, clarity to place names upon it- all of that IS exceptional, still! Still, I found most of her tasking while mudlarking becoming insipid. It's me. Too much of the same, too much of the same.

Pretty much everything that humans have made used and thrown away will be here forever. Often these possessions have ended up in middens and now we bury vast quantities of our unwanted stuff in the ground in dumps. If you know where to look these relics from a time long gone can be found, especially along the foreshore of the tidal Thames. I feel my knowledge of the history of London has been deepened and enlarged by her comments on these objects, the riverside locations and ultimately the Thames itself. Those run by the Thames Discovery Programme, for example, offer you the opportunity to explore the foreshore under the guidance of an experienced archaeologist at a reasonable price – and without the need for a permit.So wonderfully crafted and written, it covers the range of this peculiar pastime along the Thames from West to East. That is from Tidal Head to Estuary.