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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
What a wonderful meander along the Thames enlightening us along the way with bursts of local history and legend. I felt like I learnt a lot despite thoroughly enjoying myself. Mudlarking sounds like an intriguing and addictive way of life. A brilliant book to educate, entertain and inspire you to take your time and open your eyes to what is around you.
What a fun book! Over the years, I've found plenty of "old" stuff through my travels around Pittsburgh's non-empty hillsides and neighborhoods: glass bottles, plates, commercial/industrial bits and bobs made of iron or steel, and a large array of modern-day illegal dumping and trash. But none of this compares to Maiklem's foraging along The Thames in England. With hundreds of years of lost and discarded items waiting below the mud, she takes readers through the history of many commonly found items: pipes, buttons, pins (and more) in a fascinating and well-researched manner. I recently saw that Maiklem has written a follow-up book on this same topic, and I'm eager to dig in and get some dirt on my hands. :-)
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Fascinating subject. The book got better (and more macabre) towards the end (which probably kept me listening).
The structure is very meandering and I would very much have appreciated some structure; this would be possible without the flashbacks etc. but rather told chronologically explaining the driving force behind the obsession.
I would much rather be doing it than reading about it. Would make an excellent tv series.
The structure is very meandering and I would very much have appreciated some structure; this would be possible without the flashbacks etc. but rather told chronologically explaining the driving force behind the obsession.
I would much rather be doing it than reading about it. Would make an excellent tv series.
This is a fun book. The author is basically a hoarder! But a dedicated one with a great hunting-ground.
Mudlarks are a community of people who spend lots of time wandering around the banks of the Thames searching for treasure. It's an old profession that has now become a hobby. "Treasure" has a broad definition in this case, apparently everything from coins to broken bottles or bones. The last time I visited London, I saw a lot of mudlarks on the river at Southwark at low tide, scanning the ground and carrying bags of stuff. That is why I was interested in reading this book.
I learned that the reason there is so much stuff washing up on the banks is that the Thames is essentially a giant landfill site. Every time over the past 2,000 years that the river has been rearranged, by building embankments for flood control or commercial activity, the fill has been obtained by either dredging the river and dumping it up on the banks, or carting in rubble from the surrounding area. In the process, thousands of years of artifacts have been deposited on the banks. But because the Thames is tidal, there is a lot of daily erosion, gradually releasing all the "treasure" onto the foreshore (what we Americans would call the tidal flats) to be picked up by anyone who notices it. It's pretty amazing that Roman coins and Tudor buttons are just lying there ready to be picked up. Sometimes the narrative gets a bit list-y, there are so many items, but still, a fascinating variety.
The book is divided into chapters about various sections of the river and the stuff that can be found there, with historical background to explain it. Lots of fun local London history for anyone who is somewhat familiar with the city. It is also frank about all the garbage and muck (and occasional dead body) that mudlarks have to wade through in order to find their treasures. Pretty gross! Mudlarking would not be my hobby, but it's probably good that Maiklem is honest about this aspect, or everyone would want to climb down to the river and treasure-hunt.
A good, light read and a way to virtually travel to London in 2020.
Mudlarks are a community of people who spend lots of time wandering around the banks of the Thames searching for treasure. It's an old profession that has now become a hobby. "Treasure" has a broad definition in this case, apparently everything from coins to broken bottles or bones. The last time I visited London, I saw a lot of mudlarks on the river at Southwark at low tide, scanning the ground and carrying bags of stuff. That is why I was interested in reading this book.
I learned that the reason there is so much stuff washing up on the banks is that the Thames is essentially a giant landfill site. Every time over the past 2,000 years that the river has been rearranged, by building embankments for flood control or commercial activity, the fill has been obtained by either dredging the river and dumping it up on the banks, or carting in rubble from the surrounding area. In the process, thousands of years of artifacts have been deposited on the banks. But because the Thames is tidal, there is a lot of daily erosion, gradually releasing all the "treasure" onto the foreshore (what we Americans would call the tidal flats) to be picked up by anyone who notices it. It's pretty amazing that Roman coins and Tudor buttons are just lying there ready to be picked up. Sometimes the narrative gets a bit list-y, there are so many items, but still, a fascinating variety.
The book is divided into chapters about various sections of the river and the stuff that can be found there, with historical background to explain it. Lots of fun local London history for anyone who is somewhat familiar with the city. It is also frank about all the garbage and muck (and occasional dead body) that mudlarks have to wade through in order to find their treasures. Pretty gross! Mudlarking would not be my hobby, but it's probably good that Maiklem is honest about this aspect, or everyone would want to climb down to the river and treasure-hunt.
A good, light read and a way to virtually travel to London in 2020.
This was one of the most fascinating books I have ever read! What a wonderful adventure along the Thames!
informative
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Adaptation on BBC ...very interesting and enjoyable. And a day when worried about father in hospital...so must have been good to make such an impression then..