Mudlarking on the Thames: How it all started

I spent my teenage years rather envious of those who had an absorbing passion, believing I just wasn't that type of person. To my surprise, scouring the Thames foreshore for fragments of long ago discarded objects, has me in its grip. 

Thames foreshore

A birthday treat Thames Explorer Trust guided walk started me off in September 2011. Returning home to party, I couldn't resist laying out my finds,  Roman pottery,  green glazed medieval chunks, earthenware Tudor pot handle, a section of a Tudor nit comb, pieces of tin glazed delft pottery from the 1600s, shards of blue and white Victorian pottery and the ubiquitous clay pipes.  I was hooked.

 

First finds Mudlarking on the Thames foreshore. L-R Roman, medieval, Tudor pot handle, Tudor nit comb, delft, Bellarmine both 1600s, combed slip ware, clay pipe, Victorian blue and white & glass bottle.