Mudlarking on the Thames

Wednesday afternoon found Polli (along with her sister-in-law Rota), Loretta and I mudlarking on the river Thames. Mudlarking you ask? Every day a narrow strip of land along the banks of the river are exposed at low tide. A Mudlark is someone who scavenges in river mud for stuff. What fun! The St. John’s Wood Women’s Club often offers excursions to the river to scavenge for treasures but I was never able to fit it into my busy schedule of ladies who lunch.

This same group of women while at the theatre the night before (Jersey Boys)decided we would give this activity a go the following day. A quick call to Jeff before the show began (who just happened to be on his computer!) gave us the low tide times for Wednesday. I had no idea it was so easy to obtain this information. See the links for more information.

OK, now the why? Well, mosaics of course! My mosaic teacher Katherine had made a terrific piece with items obtained while mudlarking! I was inspired to find some pottery and clay pipes! Armed with gloves, plastic bags, anti-bacterial wash and a small digging tool we set off for the St. Paul’s tube station. A short walk from St. Paul’s Cathedral had us clambering down steep stairs near the Millennium Bridge on a cool but sunny afternoon.

I spent about an hour on the river’s edge picking up Victorian and and Edwardian bits. This activity is addictive! The drawback is that it hard to stand up straight after a time! Along the fore shore, I met a group of school children from Barnet who were also having a great time mudlarking. They seemed more interested in animal bones than pottery and when I left they had a huge pile on a plastic sheet ready to take back to school. I suggested they make a mosaic of all the things they collected. We even had a picture taken together!