Andrew Farrell

A quick lunchtime mudlark. While I've mostly stopped picking up blue and white pieces of pottery, I do still pick it up if it has an interesting pattern or is a piece of Westerwald pottery.



(You need a permit to search or mudlark on the Thames foreshore.)

I got to the foreshore about two hours before low tide so had plenty of time to search on this day. I put on my wellies and squelched through the mud to the beach outside the National Theatre.

I prised a bit of a jar from the mud and then my gloves were muddy from then on.

There were a few other people mudlarking too along this stretch and lots of people about on the foreshore as it was a sunny Saturday. At the beach outside Gabriel’s Wharf (Ernie’s Beach) sand sculptures were being made, and then a large plastic seal also appeared and people were taking photos with the seal.

That day I found:

Three round glass objects. These seem to have a Tibetan inscription on them and I believe they have a Buddhist water blessing written on them.

A sun earring.

A small button.

A sherd with a wing on it.

A sherd that says “YAL BILE CLUB” on it and has a Royal Doulton mark. I believe this is from the Royal Automobile Club. I assumed it must be the same as the RAC, but it seems that the RAC formed from a members’ club called the Royal Automobile Club, before splitting from it, so it must be from that, and not actually the RAC that deal with broken down cars. It may have looked like this jug on Ebay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/375154058207

A shard of glass that says “HE” on it, although it probably once said “THE”.



A sherd that says "ASBO" on it, although really those letters were probably from different words.



A sherd that says “Admiralty Luncheon” on. I believe this may have come from the Admiralty House luncheon club.



(You need a permit to search or mudlark on the Thames foreshore.)

The Southbank was busy. I had intended to get a coffee and a snack from Nagare but when I got there, the queue was so long that I decided to just cross the Millennium Bridge. The chewing gum art by Ben Wilson on the bridge was looking fresh.

I reached St Paul's where there was a mudlarking exhibition. I overheard someone saying that if you find something at a spot you keep going back there, like an addiction.

I spoke to a mudlark who showed me a penknife he'd found and let me hold it, as well as the top of a money box used to collect money at the Globe Theatre.

I spoke to another mudlark who asked me what I'd found so far and said as long as I am enjoying it, that's the main thing, and wished me luck.

I liked looking at other people’s collections.

Saturday marked the 50th day I've been mudlarking since I got my permit in April. I hadn't realised when I got a permit how much I would enjoy mudlarking and how much I would end up going. It seems unlikely that I will get to 100 times before my permit expires though due to the lessening of daylight. It has been fun and I've been to places that have been new for me, having rarely ventured onto the foreshore before I got a permit. I've found so many curious things. I've gained an interest in history and learnt so much about London.

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On Saturday, low tide was after sunset. I walked along the foreshore from Gabriel’s Wharf and past the National Theatre and underneath Waterloo Bridge. I actually wore wellies. I don’t usually bother, but it made me worry less about the areas where I start to sink, which there are quite a few of around there.

On this day I mostly collected pottery sherds with words and pieces of glass.

I found a sherd that says “Meakin” and “Hotel ware” on if. If the sherd had a W it would have been used by the government but this one doesn't seem to have, so may just have been standard utilitarian ware. The most exciting thing about Meakin though is that he created giant teapots! Look at this picture of a person in a teapot! https://www.thepotteries.org/allpotters_photos/meakin_teapot/Ichenhauser_BW.jpg

Another sherd says:
Crescent
Vitrified
Geo Jones & Sons
Stoke on Trent

This would have been George Jones & Sons, in operation from 1873 - 1957.

I like seeing pictures of the factories.

Another sherd says:
Bennett & Co Ltd
Victoria Pottery
Burslem
England

The Potteries website has an entry for George Bennett & Co, or it could have been Sandland, Bennett & Co, so this sherd probably dates from 1887 - 1902.

The Doulton Lambeth stoneware was probably 1858 - 1910.

The stripey piece is from another Maling Newcastle marmalade jar.

Another sherd has 52 on it. This was the year Queen Elizabeth II became the queen, so could have been from a commemorative plate.

The green cherub with a trumpet is plastic and made in Hong Kong.



I collected a number of bits of glass. Some say “Coca-Cola” and one is from an “R Whites” lemonade bottle. One of the bottles says Express Dairies on it, so was probably from a milk bottle. The company was apparently founded in 1864 as Express County Milk Supply Company as they used express trains to get their milk to London. Milk trains!



(You need a permit to search or mudlark on the Thames foreshore.)

The skies were grey and it was raining when I headed to the foreshore, with my umbrella up. I headed down the steps at Gabriel’s Wharf and along to outside the National Theatre again and wondered what I was doing out there getting wet.

Things found:
Part of a lightbulb with liquid trapped inside, a vulcanite bottle stopper, a battery, a green bead, most of a pipe with maker’s initials A.R.

Staffordshire blue and white pottery (two pieces) with blue circles and possibly a bird. A pottery sherd with some people on, features almost worn away. Marmalade jar remains. A Panda sticker. An eye. Staffordshire Slipware. A sherd that says EE.

A pottery sherd from the Aerated Bread Company. Founded in 1862, by 1925 they had 250 tea shops. According to Wikipedia, the tea shops were one of the first places Victorian women could go alone.

Happy anniversary to the Thames! Keep on flowing!

I sang to myself on the foreshore. It's amazing to me how you can find a spot alone in central London. I was joined by two other people mudlarking later but enjoyed having the foreshore to myself for a while. When the tide turned, the two other people turned back and I did too.





(You need a permit to search or mudlark on the Thames foreshore.)