The Thames is a river that seduces you. It is constantly changing, yet is so rich in history with thousands of stories to tell. Do you know what mudlarking is?
A mudlark (a slang term from the late 18th century) is someone who scavenged along the Thames, mostly small boys and widows who were desperately poor in need of a few pennies Not a heap of fun as they searched through sewerage and dead bodies.
The Thames 0f the 21st century is positively pristine by comparison. Mudlarking is now fun that just might result in you finding a few Roman coins.
10 comments:
dead bodies? how grim
Now I know
It is fascinating how the tide change the scenery during the day
Roman coins... sounds it is worth mudlarking for a while if the smell is not so strong. Good post and best wishes for this year.
We were there yesterday and the Thames smelt very fresh and clean. I can only begin to imagine how horrific things must have been before decent sewerage was installed in the Victorian era.
Gorgeous photo Mo. I love the stories you tell, they always have a bit of something I'd have never known otherwise.
"London bridges falling down, my fair lady" - where does that come from?
we tend to romance the 18th century. what a difficult
time it must have been to survive.
i love your blog and look forward to more education
about a city i love.
i dunno,
italian money today
equates: 1.00 ITL = 0.000740 USD
hardly worth the trouble unless you could find a whole barrel full of coins -- nice pic, though
× × ×
/t.
My old piano teacher's dad used to go searching for treasure along the banks of the Thames. He found Roman sandals (amongst other things no doubt).
Happy New Year Mo!
Hiya Mo!
It's a nice blog you have here, I just discovered it. I am from London and miss it a lot. As a boy I often went mudlarking for clay pipes ... a nice childhood memory this post brought up.
My Best Wishes, Shane
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