A slightly different type of blog entry today, because I wanted to reflect on a rather cool experience I went on last week as part of my work. We went mudlarking on a section of the Thames foreshore, just underneath Millennium Bridge on the north side. Mudlarking, for those who don’t know, is basically scavenging in the riverbed for things of value; whilst we weren’t exactly trying to make a living from our time down there, we did have on hand a member of the Thames Explorer Trust who expertly identified the various bits and bobs we brought to him. And really, I know the term mudlarking isn’t exactly accurate for we were all young adults and not Victorian children, but it’s the most succinct term I could think of. ‘Scavenging and picking up stuff’ is hardly very catchy. Anyway, it was a fascinating experience, and a rather unexpected one, for when I first found out about this item on our itinerary, I was a bit sceptical. What could be found on the Thames foreshore? Surely everything that could be scavenged had already been taken? I expected to find bits of glass bottles and rubbish, and thought the whole 3 hours would be more of a litter picking duty than a real mudlark. However, I was pleasantly surprised and we found a huge amount of interesting objects which kept us preoccupied for our time on the foreshore.
Universe of Discourse 