‘And Summer’s Lease Hath All Too Short A Date’ etc etc. August is nearly over so here are my #TopNine photos from this month on the Thames Foreshore. Starting with my home patch in SW London the river rolls eternally on to the great & historic City of London itself, finally wending its way east to Limehouse highlighting the steel/glass towers of Canary Wharf and beyond #Mudlark #RiverThames #LoveLondon

Always feels decadent walking under Thames structures normally inaccessible during high tide, the crunch of centuries of detritus - tiles, animal bones, pottery & gravel underfoot. I’m often being asked this so, just to clarify, the #ThamesForeshore is an open public space though there are restrictions & dangers. Always check tide times/exits. Some areas are protected SAM (Scheduled Ancient Monuments) & it’s illegal to #mudlark remove artefacts without a PLA permit, new ones currently suspended.

From the #ThamesForeshore last week, a small sherd of Roman pottery lost to the river when Britain was a province of the Roman Empire, and Londinium was its major city. This is colour-coated ware, likely to be Nene Valley (modern day Peterborough) & introduced by migrant potters from the Lower Rhineland in the mid 2nd century, later made in Colchester too. As ever, so many questions; who last held this sophisticated example of Roman tableware in their trembling hands? #mudlark #mudlarking

Tide going out on the River Thames at Twickenham #mudlark #mudlarking

My office last week #LambethBridge #ThamesForeshore #Mudlark #Mudlarking #HappyPlace

Star find from the #riverthames yesterday, an armorial clay pipe bowl, with partial stem, showing the crest of the Prince of Wales - ostrich feathers & the motto ‘Ich Dien’, or ‘I serve.’ It’s thought this design was adopted by Edward, the Black Prince, after the Battle of Crécy in 1346. These pipes were made in order to show loyalty to the Prince of Wales of the time, but the design was also linked to a large number of taverns called ‘The Prince of Wales’ or ‘The Feathers’ #Mudlark #Mudlarking

Mudlark, Mudlark

#inkyconditions #Illustration #Art #print #Mudlarking #Mudlark

Mudlark, Mudlark

#inkyconditions #Illustration #Art #print #Mudlarking #Mudlark

Summer is here. Time to crack open my Grecian toga to wear in the heat #SummerInTheCity #Heatwave #Humid #Mudlark #Finds #Fragments #Sherds #RiverThamesForeshore

Shout out for my great friend and fellow #mudlark Caroline Nunneley (@carolinenunneleymudlark on Insta) who will be exhibiting her mudlarking finds, including a fabulous Memento Mori bead, at the beautiful 13th century St Peter’s Church, Preston Park, Brighton on the 1st July, fundraising for new church lighting. Please come, if you can 👌🏼

Birthday gift from the cat. Today I’ll be lunching, drinking Prosecco and lounging in the garden browsing this fabulous and comprehensive new book on Thames-found pottery. A real labour of love written by fellow #mudlark and pottery expert, Richard Hemery. Available via Etsy or eBay 👌🏼

It’s #FindsFriday and this is one of my favourites. I don’t find lots of old jewellery on the #ThamesForeshore so it was a joy to spot this peach of a discovery poking out of river mud. One of a pair of Georgian earrings, made from copper alloy this would have sparkled like gold when new. Designed in the popular Rococo style of the time, a fashion that originated in France in the early 1700s and was characterised by flamboyant, curved asymmetric ornamentation and use of natural motifs #Mudlark

A handful of Thames treasure - 14th to 18th century pins, pewter buttons, pin ties, fastenings #mudlark #mudlarking #RiverThames

Bit of a mystery Thames find that I literally have no idea what it is. Made of brass, quite decorative yet it could be part of a large clock, I guess, or maybe attached to a piece of furniture. The age is probably Victorian/Edwardian era. Will clean up beautifully when I get my act together #Mudlark #Mudlarking #ThamesMystery #ThamesForeshore

Flaars from the River Thames. Yes, I’m gardening this weekend #RiverThames #Mudlark #Mudlarking #Spring

Back to the river, so pleased with this piece of worked flint I found yesterday as these aren’t found often in the Thames. Probably ended up as waste flint but clearly worked by someone from the Neolithic approx 3,500 - 10,000 years ago (evidence of this is the visible bulb of percussion on the stone, like ripples on a pond) who decided not to continue retouching it or working it into a tool/blade and abandoned it, maybe unhappy with the quality of the flint #mudlark #flinttools #riverthames

Chuffed to have been given my mudlarking badge. Thank you @xonboy (not on Mastodon, I don’t think) for sending me this - a real honour & will wear it with pride #mudlark #mudlarking #ThamesForeshore

It’s nearly the Easter weekend, hang on in there. Please enjoy some birds, butterflies and flaars from my trips to the #ThamesForeshore Cranes, love birds, a startled woodpecker, hand painted trees, tulip tiles and 17th Century Delft wall tile grasses #Mudlark #SpringIsHere #Easter

Beautiful cobalt blue bead found #mudlarking on the #ThamesForeshore on Tuesday, its vibrant va-va-voom colour making it stand out against the beige, brown & greys of the stones & gravel on the river. Initially thought be a pressed Czech glass bead from the 1920s/1930s, I’ve since been told by a bead expert it’s much older than that, likely to be Georgian-era bling, perhaps a collar stud or part of a ring. I haven’t found much this week so this was a real tonic #mudlark

Back on the river yesterday on the hunt for one of London’s long lost rivers, The Tyburn. What a difference a day makes - yesterday mild, sunny, blue skies in London. Today a bit meh #Mudlark #Mudlarking #London #LondonIsOpen