Yes, there are fascinating pieces of the past all along the Thames positions at low tide. Some of the coin, pins, bottles, medals, tools or cooking items found, those long descriptions were true evidence of their times and how they were used. But STILL- it just got too tedious to me. And all her personal relationship information and genealogy for many past ancestors just so monotonous. Trigger warnings: mentions of war, death, drowning, descriptions of dead bodies etc. I think that's all? There's one scene where Maiklem discusses how she once had to call the police because two drunk men started following her along the mud flats and she feared for her safety but nothing actually happens. Lara Maiklem is a London mudlark, scavenging for what washes up on the shores of the Thames. I thrilled to her descriptions of what she’s found, including clay pipes, coins, armaments, pottery, and much more. “The Thames is England’s longest archaeological landscape,” she notes, and the many layers of the city’s history mingle at the foreshore: Victorian, Georgian, Elizabethan, medieval, and Roman. The jewel of Maiklem’s collection is a sixteenth-century leather child’s shoe she sent to Cardiff University for conservation. Recommended reading for amateur and professional historians and genealogists; archaeologists; aquaphiles; environmentalists; museum lovers and the curious.

The book is arranged geographically, moving west to east along the Thames. I’m not familiar enough with London for this progression to have meant much to me, so by just past the halfway point the chapters felt like “here’s where I went and here’s some things I found” and “here’s somewhere else I went and some other things I found.” I’m not sure how the structure could have been more successful: perhaps each chapter could have focused on a different time period or category of finds? All the same, this is a fascinating way of bringing history to life and imagining what everyday existence was like for Londoners across the centuries. (If only there were photographs of Maiklem’s collection!) Pretty much everything that humans have made used and thrown away will be here forever. Often these possessions have ended up in middens and now we bury vast quantities of our unwanted stuff in the ground in dumps. If you know where to look these relics from a time long gone can be found, especially along the foreshore of the tidal Thames. 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. I feel my knowledge of the history of London has been deepened and enlarged by her comments on these objects, the riverside locations and ultimately the Thames itself.Apparently Tower Beach was a great success and in 1935 approximately 100,000 people came to 'holiday' beside the Thames. What a sight this must have been. Firstly, whereas riverbeds in locations like Cardiff, Bristol and Newcastle can be dangerous due to the dense mud – which you can sink into and drown in, since it goes above your head – when the tide recedes on the Thames, it’s a reasonably gravelly foreshore, which is safer to walk on.

Mudlarking is the act of searching or scavenging in the river mud at low tide seeking items of value. Modern mudlarks forage in the mud in search of items from history - regardless of value - and it's amazing what they find. I saw the River Thames in person for the first time in 2012 but it's always been fascinating to me as a repository of history. This is one of the best non-fiction books I have read in a long time. I am amazed it is Lara’s first move to becoming a published author. I’m sure it was a hard slog and kept her from those hours of solitude and peace beside her beloved river. Her efforts are well received and she can be so proud of her disciplined writing and research. Her approach sustained my interest throughout the journey along the river and I would recommend this book without reservation to all. More advanced ‘mudlark’ permits can also be obtained, however, these are only available to the members of the Society of Thames Mudlarks.I had no idea the construction of the old bridge slowed the water to such an extent the river froze over in harsh winters. I knew about the festivities that took place when the Thames froze over in the 1600s but wasn't aware that it doesn't do so now because these obstructions were removed when the old bridge was demolished. You immediately feel comfortable with this author in her hobby, obsession and delight for Mudlarking.