A Richard III boar badge likely worn to the king’s coronation by an attendee – also discovered by Jason in the Thames – is now used to teach schoolchildren about artefacts at the King Richard III Visitor Centre in Leicester. So wonderfully crafted and written, it covers the range of this peculiar pastime along the Thames from West to East. That is from Tidal Head to Estuary. The longer you mudlark, the more you want to find. “It is addictive,” Maiklem warned me. But the bug has already bitten me – even if I do still dream of finding golden treasure in the Thames. On a lighter note, Maiklem has a marvellous ability to bring history to life. She uses her imagination to breathe life into the objects she unearths and I enjoyed this immensely.

I still have little interest in metal-detecting but the sense of being so close to the soul of the river, teasing out its bounty by effort and a good eye and reconnecting the present with the past has a value beyond the items themselves.Firstly, people who are casually searching the Thames foreshore may fail to report significant finds. By regulating mudlarking with permits, it help to protects the historical integrity of the riverbed, and makes it more likely that people will respect the archeological significance of items they find. In a time when many of our historical novelists are filling our heads with what can surely be called highly unlikely drivel,the lives of ordinary people are now warranting much more of our attention. With wit and an open writing style, she opens up her world in a way that you can feel her passion, share her enthusiasm and marvel in her imaginations. If you want to start mudlarking as a hobby, you may wish to join some mudlarking groups in London, and follow some well known mudlarkers on social media. A lyrical and evocative narrative history of London and its people, told through objects found on the banks of the Thames by the city's most prominent mudlark

Mudlarking is charged throughout with love for London and its history. Maiklem’s descriptions are witty, evocative and she has some wonderful anecdotes to relate. The history she encounters in the silt of the river hark from the depths of the Bronze Age all the way through to the palaces of the Tudor period and the filth of the Victorian era. As comprehensive as it may be, the history is never dry, and spans so much further than just that of Britain. Maiklem reaches out to the far corners of the globe; detailing 18th century transportations, the horrors of transatlantic slave trade, and even merchant ships hawking sugar and spice and all things nice.If the object is believed to be of historical interest, it must be reported to Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Liaison Officer at the Museum of London, within one month of being found. Thames mud is anaerobic – that means there's no oxygen – so things that fall in thousands of years ago just wash up in the same condition that they were dropped in many years ago.” This is a wonderful idea since modern day scavenging isn’t for coal, food or items just washed into the river but a history lesson and more akin to river archaeology. London is the best place in the UK to go mudlarking. This is because, at low tide the foreshore is mostly gravel, and easy to walk on. Also, the mud at the bottom of the Thames is anaerobic, so it preserves objects well. You are also more likely to discover something in London, than in other rivers in the UK.